A Moonless Sky - Erik & Christine's story
by IameriktheOG
Summary: This story was first published a separate stories however it was pointed out that people were struggling to locate the other chapters. The story here is the first four stories of the saga although part four is still incomplete. The story covers LNDs and the period both before and after that chain of events. The main plot change is that Christine does not die.


**A Moonless Sky**

**Part 1**

This is part one of a series of stories based upon characters from The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies. It draws from various sources and also of course the authors own imagination. I make no claim to own any of these characters except ones that I have invented for the purpose of this tale and also make no apology for its obvious tribute to the characters created by Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber. This story is dedicated to my good friend Katie Paterson for her inspirational portrayal as Christine Daae

**Paris 1881**

The tall skeleton like figure of Erik, dressed as always in his immaculate black suit and cloak leans against the mantelpiece of the house beyond the underground lake. He turns furiously to the small frail girl in the wedding gown stood before him. "You try my patience Christine. Make your choice. The scorpion or the grasshopper, the wedding Mass or the requiem Mass?"

Her glorious red hair falls around her shoulders as she meets his gaze with her beautiful eyes. "Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known. God gave me courage to show you, you are not alone." She pulls his horrific face down to meet her lips and kisses him with desperation. Tears flood from his sunken eye sockets and stream down his parchment coloured cheeks. They mingle with her tears and drip to the floor. She pulls back and looks at him. "Erik, I choose the scorpion." She opens the small wooden casket on the mantelpiece and with her small delicate hand she turns the carved brass creature within.

Moments later the sound of rushing water meets your ears as the gun powder in the Opera cellars is drowned with water from the underground lake. Cries of horror reach their ears from the torture chamber where Raoul, Vicomte de Chagney and Nadir the Persian are imprisoned fighting for their survival in the stifling heat. Nadir's cries reach her ears. "Erik turn off the water the room is flooding. In the name of Allah help us."

"Erik stop please stop I will marry you, please let them go" she cries. He looks at her for what seems like an age.

"You love the boy don't you?"

She nods unsure of if this is the response he wants or if this will spark his demonic rage once again and commence some other horrific chain of events as yet undreamed of. He merely sighs and rests his forehead on the cold marble mantelpiece. "Don't cry anymore." He twists the scorpion once more and the waters begin to subside in the torture chamber. The cries of relief can be clearly heard within.

He pushes a hidden switch and an as yet invisible door into that infernal room of mirrors swings open. Raoul and Nadir crawl out on their knees in near exhaustion. The young Vicomte's eyes search the room for his love. He sees her stood beside the tall funereal figure of Erik. This is the first time he has truly seen his adversary in the flesh and he gasps at the sight of his corpse like appearance. "Christine" he gasps. Erik approaches him and stands over him like an avenging angel.

"I set you free, for the sake of my bride, my living wife." Raoul stares at these words and passes into unconsciousness.

When the Vicomte recovers he finds himself in a boat with Nadir. On the small wharf by the lake he sees Erik and his Christine facing one another hands joined. Christine is crying floods of bitter tears shaking her head. Erik leads her to the boat and places her gently in next to Raoul. He looks at the boy sternly. "Look after my angel of music." Raoul nods stunned. Christine continues to cry. Across the lake the sound of the mob grows louder. The flicker of their torches can be clearly seen. As the boat pulls away Erik gazes down at his living bride. "Christine I love you." He watches until she vanishes into the darkness lost forever to him.

He turns and walks back into his lair sitting heavily upon his ornately carved chair. His head sinks to his knees as he sobs heavy tears of despair and loss. He does not see a figure approach him quietly. Still in her costume from Don Juan Triumphant, Meg reaches a trembling hand to him. "Master?." His head snaps up at her words.

"You!" he looks at her confused. "Why are you here child?." Meg takes his hand and pulls him to his feet.

"They are coming and they must not find you here." She drags him to a passage way. "Come Master, I will save you." He follows her in a daze his eyes glancing back to the lake hoping to see one last view of his beautiful Christine in the darkness. Meg turns his face back to look at her. "Do not fret Master. Your Meg is here now. I will look after you. Il always look after you." They vanish into the tunnel as the mob reaches the lair to find nothing but his mask.

**6 Weeks Later**

He sits alone in the deserted farmhouse outside Paris enjoying the darkness of the moonless night. Meg and her mother Madame Giry are asleep inside oblivious to his nocturnal restlessness. Sleep?. How can he sleep when all he can think about is Christine each time he closes his eyes. He sees her red hair, her pale skin and her beautiful eyes. Why did he let her go? He had her. She was his, after all the tears and grief she had given herself to him willingly despite Raoul and Nadir's danger. Yes it was true she had saved them but even after he had granted their freedom she had wanted to stay, demanded to stay, crying and beating her tiny fists on his chest with words of love in her sweet mouth. Erik you damned fool. He shakes his head in despair and silent tears roll down his face behind his new mask that Meg had found for him. Poor little Meg. So eager to please, hanging on his every word. Besotted by the irresistible mystery of a man in a mask. How she fawned over him and sat gazing up at him with adoring eyes. Yes he could not deny it. She was beautiful and charming in her own naive way but she was not Christine and she was the only woman he had ever wanted or needed.

A noise close by makes him turn his head and reach instinctively for the Punjab lasso. A figure in a hooded cloak appears before him. "Erik." It was her voice.

"Christine, is that truly you?" She draws back her hood and her face in all its beauty is revealed to him. He feels a stab of pain in his heart like a knife.

"I've missed you so much my love but why are you here, how did you find me?" She smiles.

"Erik, I will always find you. I was afraid I would be too late. That you would be spirited away to some distant place."

He stands and crosses to her. He reaches to take her hands but stops suddenly unsure of himself. She reaches forward and takes his hands. "Have you forgotten your angel?"

He shakes his head. "No I have not. What of your...Husband?" She smiles looking up at him.

"No, Erik. We are not yet married." She said.

"Not yet married...but why?"

She caresses his face. "Do you not know?"

He shakes his head. "I confess I do not"

She reaches her hands behind his head and draws his lips down onto hers kissing him with utter love and desire in her gentle heart. He carries her in silence to his room and lays her down on his bed. She nods her agreement and pulls him onto her. They make love passionately for many hours until satisfied and spent when they fall asleep in each other's arms.

Before dawn he awakens and lies beside her gazing in wonder at her flawless beauty. He catches his reflection in the window pane and recoils at his hideous appearance. How can he ruin her life with his ugliness? She deserves so much more than this. A better man than he. A monster with a murderer's sin on his hands. He rises quietly as he hears Meg and her Mother stirring in the next room. He looks in wonder at Christine's naked body before him as he dresses in silence.

Meg taps on the door gently. "Master are you awake?" He grunts in response and kneels kissing Christine gently for the last time.

"I love you so much that I cannot bear to destroy your life. I hope one day you understand why." He stands and slips from the room before anyone can see inside the room. Meg stands gazing at him adoringly.

"Good morning Master. Today is a big day."

"Why, what is happening?"

She takes his hands kissing them. "We have secured places on a ship bound for New York. Oh can you imagine. A new life in America for us...you and me together. Like my dreams come true." She hands him his bag of possessions salvaged from the lair. "Mother is waiting Master" She leads him outside to the cart where Madame Giry is sat waiting. As the cart pulls away he looks back at the window hoping to see her face appear but she sleeps on unaware. Meg glances at him unsettled by his strange behaviour and takes his hand placing it in her lap tightly. She smirks to herself as he smiles down at her.

**Coney Island, New York 1891**

A small crowd gathers around the poster as the billposter pastes it to the high wooden gates. A murmur of excitement passes through the group as one of them reads aloud for those that can't.

"Mister Y presents; Phantasma. The greatest park on Coney Island. Opening soon with a grand gala performance featuring Miss Meg Giry the famous Ooh La La girl."

The crowd talk excitedly amongst themselves. "Who is this Mister Y anyhow?"

"I've heard he wears a mask like some kinda freak"

"Who says that? I hear that no one has ever seen this guy"

"Yeah I hear that too. Say what though. I seen the Ooh La La girl once and she is just sweet as candy"

They all laugh together swapping rude stories they have heard about Miss Meg Giry. The crowd slowly moves away into the rain soaked evening looking forward to the day of the grand opening.

Behind the gates Phantasma sits like a great beast slumbering awaiting the day that the switch is thrown and the lights blaze, the music begins and the eager public surge forward to sample delights as yet undreamed of. In the centre of the park like a great mythical creature stand the main concert hall and the Eyrie that soars above it pointing to the heavens.

In the concert hall rehearsals for the grand opening are progressing. In the centre of the huge stage stands Meg dressed in a show girl outfit. She is running through her headline routine "Only for you". Her mother stands to one side casting an ever critical eye over her daughters work.

Meg whirls through the routine obviously enjoying her new found stardom. As she finishes she stands panting and looks out into the empty auditorium as if expecting or seeking some sign of pleasure or approval of her efforts. She stands for long moments as if listening to an unseen voice and she grins widely. "Thank you Master." She skips across to Madame Giry who nods briefly.

"He is pleased with you my dear"

"Oh Mother do you think so?" says Meg excitedly. "Do you think finally he realises that he only really needs me?"

"I am certain he does my darling." She shuffles her feet nervously and tries to hide a news paper behind her back.

"What is that Mother? May I see?" Meg reaches for the paper but her mother snatches it away from her.

"I said it is nothing Meg. Now continue with your practice at once."

Meg returns to go through her routine her head full of dreams where she and her beloved Master walk like lovers on the sand, have children and a happy life together. She realises at last that this is nearly within her grasp. Finally his pain over Christine is fading allowing him to see her for the first time as a young desirable woman in her own right. Ten years of him crying every night, of him pacing the floor in the early hours of the morning muttering her name and bursts of uncontrollable rage and demonic fury at the slightest thing. Those terrible years. She had sacrificed much for him. Her honour her self- respect and giving her body away to charm investors and local officials to get this place built. It was all soon to be worth her efforts.

Madame Giry stalks off the stage to her office and lays the newspaper down on her desk. The headline reads;

"Christine De Chagney to visit New York at the request of Mr Oscar Hammerstein at the opening of the Manhattan Opera House next week"

She sinks into her chair and rubs her eyes. "This must not disrupt Meg...I will not allow this to stop her becoming what she was always destined to be." She rips the paper into shreds with fury in her eyes. She looks over her shoulder to the stage and sees her poor daughter oblivious to the impending disaster approaching.

High above the roof of the concert hall in the eyrie he sits at his pipe organ. The music refuses to come. Once he had heard the notes in his head clear and pure but no longer. Yes he could still compose but the music he wrote for Meg was just cheap vaudeville trash and he knew it. Yes it made her smile and feel as if she was more than just a pleasant distraction from his misery but only Christine could ever move him to create true music of soaring splendour that would make the very angels weep in the heavens. His beloved Christine lost and gone. He rests his head forward onto the keyboard causing a mournful note to emit from the organ like the cry of a dying beast.

He stands and crosses to the table littered with papers and musical scores. He flicks through them in a disinterested way until one catches his eyes. A flyer that had come from Oscar Hammerstein several days ago that he had not read but just discarded onto the table without a thought. His eyes re-read the text over and over as if his mind must be playing tricks. Her name it was her name before him...she was coming here to America to sing at the opening of the Manhattan Opera house. Destiny or fate perhaps but at last his chance to claim his bride as he should have done in the catacombs of the Palace Garnier ten years ago.

He crosses to a curtained alcove and draws back the heavy velvet drapes. There stands her life like mannequin dressed in the bridal gown that was to be hers. "My Christine, my Christine I lost you once but this time I will not let you slip from my grasp" He races to the organ a plan already forming in his fevered mind. He would create an aria for her to tempt her away from Hammerstein and lure her here to Phantasma to sing for him.

**One Week Later**

Christine walks own the gangway from the deck of the SS Persephone to the cold quayside of New York. Behind her walks her husband Raoul and their ten year old son, Gustave, named after her father and the very apple of her eye. A crowd of reporters surge forward trying to catch an interview with the world famous diva. The past ten years have not sullied her beauty. Her hair is still like burnished copper but her once sparkling eyes are lifeless and empty as if mourning the passing of something or someone deeply loved.

"Christine, Christine...what is it like to be in America?"

"Are you going to sing for us?"

"Is it true that Mister Y has offered you more money than Hammerstein to sing just one song?"

Raoul steps forward angrily. "My wife has been made an offer by the well known impresario Mister Y. It came by telegram last week."

One of the reporters laughs. "Well known...no one has ever seen the guy buddy. Is it true you need the money to pay off your gambling debts?"

"You insolent jackals...My wife is an artiste." Raoul waves his cane angrily at the reporter. Camera flashes begin to pop all around them. "No pictures I say...No pictures of the boy."

Christine pulls Gustave to her as the reporters focus on the little Vicomte De Chagney. "What do you want to do while you're in New York kid?"

Gustave steps forward. "I want to see all that Phantasma has to offer and learn to swim" The reporters begin to crowd them and Raoul becomes increasingly annoyed by the situation.

"This is an outrage. I would have thought Mister Y would have sent a carriage for us at least." As he says these words a strange sight appears across the square. A black horseless carriage with a dark, hooded figure stooped over the driving seat. He gestures to them and the carriage door opens as if by magic. Raoul and Christine look at each other baffled. They help Gustave into the carriage and climb in beside him. The door closes and the carriage moves away just as heavy rain begins to fall. Gustave looks excitedly from the carriage windows at the streets of New York.

"Oh Father isn't this just wonderful?"

Raoul sneers and opens his hip flask taking a swig of whiskey. "What a dreadful town. Does Mister Y think we will be impressed by sending us a circus side show to pick us up at the port?"

Christine nervously lays a delicate hand on his. "Please my dear don't get angry I am sure Mister Y, whoever he is meant no offence to us." Raoul snatches his hand away shooting her a menacing glare making her sit back in silence.

The carriage travels on through the gathering gloom of evening and lightning flashes across the moonless sky. They approach Coney Island and the outline of the fun fairs and side shows are illuminated with multi coloured lights but ahead yawns the gate of the newest and biggest park of all. Phantasma City of Wonders. As they pass through the gates into the park they slowly close behind them with a thud.

The carriage eventually stops in front of Phantasma's huge luxury resort hotel. Christine gazes at the imposing building and something about its design, its architecture unsettles her as if recalling a distant memory. She shakes her feeling of unease as the carriage door opens on its own and Gustave jumps out his eyes full of wonder. They stand on the pavement looking at the front of the hotel. Raoul turns to the carriage driver. His face is hidden within the deep folds of his hooded cloak. He extends a pale hand and points to the hotel lobby entrance. Before Raoul can utter a word the carriage drives away, turning a corner and vanishing into the night.

Gustave dashes ahead into the hotel excitedly. "Oh Mother look at the building it just looks like things I see in my dreams."

Christine smiles sweetly at him. "You have such a vivid imagination Gustave like your father." She smiles at Raoul who merely glares at her and calls a porter to carry their cases to their suite of rooms.

The horseless carriage draws to a stop in the alley behind the hotel. The driver sits for a moment before slowly drawing back his hood. Erik removes his black mask and wipes his fevered brow with the edge of the robe. He shakes at his first sight of his beloved Christine in ten years. My god she has not changed, just as beautiful and Raoul as handsome and arrogant as ever. He thinks of her son. Such a fine boy despite having a father like Raoul and he smiles at his idea of leaving a toy for him by the piano in the hotel bedroom. His Christine a mother. Somehow it suits her. He climbs down from the carriage and replaces his mask. He discards his robe and slips a long frock coat with a high collar over his immaculate white shirt. He wants his appearance to be just right. Dignified and striking every bit as the first time when he spirited her away through her dressing room mirror after her gala premier all those years ago.

Many floors above in the most expensive suite in the hotel Raoul paces up and down with a drink in his hand. "What an outright slap in the face. I have a good mind to pack our bags and get the next boat back to Cherbourg."

Christine tries to pacify him gently. "We need the money dear. I'm sure Mister Y meant no disrespect."

"Oh I thought somehow that would get brought up. My fault as always Christine?" Raoul slams his drink down on the piano next to a leather bound musical score. "What is this?"

"It was waiting for us when we got here. It's the aria that Mister Y wants me to perform. I shall have to rehearse it before the gala night on Saturday darling."

Gustave picks up the score and opens it. He sits at the piano and plays the opening bars. Its melody sends a shiver down Christine's spine. She pushes her chills away and listens to her son play beautifully. Raoul as ever is totally oblivious.

"Must you make such a racket Gustave, it makes my head hurt."

Gustave stops playing sadly and then his face beams as an idea strikes him. "Father come play with me. Look at this toy I found" He holds up a musical box shaped like a clown. It plays a sweet melody.

"Not now Gustave" Raoul snaps angrily.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Raoul opens it to see a hotel bell hop holding an envelope out to him. He snatches it and closes the door tearing it open and reading the note within. "It is from Mister Y. He wants me to meet him in the hotel bar. About time too but at least he has chosen a decent venue." He snatches up his jacket and walks out leaving his family alone.

Gustave sits in silence for a few moments listening to the melody of the music box. "Father never plays with me. Doesn't he love me?"

Christine sits beside him on the floor and strokes his hair. "Love is a curious thing Gustave. It often comes in a disguise and if we don't look properly we can miss it."

"What do you mean Mother?"

"You need to learn to look with your heart and not with your eyes. A heart is very wise Gustave and it never lies. Do you understand what I mean?"

He nods and rests his head on her lap. "Yes look with your heart and not with your eyes and you will know the heart always speaks the truth."

Christine smiles and kisses his hair. "I love you so much, Gustave. Now off to bed. I will be in shortly to tuck you in." He stands and goes into his bedroom looking back at her briefly and smiling happily before closing the door quietly.

Christine stands and picks up Gustave's new toy and places it down under the piano. Suddenly its melody changes into something altogether more familiar to her. A melody she heard played once...deep beneath the Opera in Paris by...him. She steps back in shock staring at the music box with a look of stunned shock in her beautiful eyes.

The balcony doors suddenly open into the room and her horrified eyes see him stood there like a phantom from her past. She had forgotten how tall and thin he was, how majestic he looked, the grace and authority of his movements. He stands before her his burning eyes staring into the depths of her very soul. She tries to speak but the room spins around her and she faints.

He rushes forward and picks her gently into his strong arms laying her gently on the chaise. He kneels at her feet as he did the first night he brought her to the house beyond the lake and waits for her to regain consciousness. She slowly opens her eyes.

"You?" she cowers back into the chair for a moment before her anger takes her. "I should have guessed that you would be here. This whole theatrical scenario bears your stamp"

"My Christine" He reaches for her but withdraws his hand.

"How dare you lure me here after ten years of silence when I thought you dead? After I grieved and wept for you night after night. How dare you try and claim me now and enslave my voice once again, Erik"

He bows his head in shame at her words. "I had to go Christine. I could not ruin your life with my ugliness."

She flares back at him. "Perhaps that was my choice to make...not yours. I woke that morning to swear my love to you and I found you gone with...her"

He recoils at her anger. "Forgive me, forgive me. I have realised what a fool I was these past years. I have never had a moment's peace from my doubts and regrets"

"And you think my life has been a bed of roses without you?" Her dress shoulder slips down to reveal a dark bruise on her pale skin.

"What is that?" He touches the bruise gently with his ice cold fingers.

She pulls the dress back up covering the mark. "It is nothing and certainly no concern of yours, Erik"

"Not my concern...not my concern?" He rises to his feet in fury "Do you remember the words I spoke to Raoul as I placed you in the boat beside him?"

She nods shakily. "Look after my child"

"Yes and what has he done with that love you gave him?"

She stares at him shaking her head. "Please, Erik it was not like that...its just..."

He glares at her rising to his full height. "It is like what?...A spoiled rich boy who does not get his own way so he drinks, gambles his family fortune away and beats his wife...and ignores his child"

Christine opens her mouth as if to speak but changes her mind and takes Erik's hand in hers. He gazes down at her and his anger subsides at her loving glance.

"Leave him Christine and be here with me forever...sing for me as you were meant to"

Christine sighs sadly. "Oh, Erik if only it were that simple. We have both made choices and done what we had to do these past years. I have Raoul and you...you have Meg"

"Poor Meg...she has sacrificed so much to gain my favour but I cannot ever love her like I love you...she is merely a pleasant distraction from my misery"

Christine shakes her head. "No she deserves better than being cast aside like a piece of rubbish and you know it yourself so don't deny that"

Gustave's bedroom door bursts open and he runs into Christine's arms in tears. "Mother I had a bad dream".

She hugs him and wipes away his tears. "I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is...Mister Y" Gustave turns and stares at Erik's tall dark figure but shows no fear at his funereal appearance.

"Why does he wear a mask? Is he a magician Mother?"

Christine smiles as Erik kneels in front of Gustave. "Yes I am...in my own way little Vicomte"

Gustave jumps up with excitement. "So all of Phantasma is yours? I want to see all its mysteries."

Erik lays a bony hand upon his shoulder. "And so you shall...tomorrow. In fact I will show you round myself...and your mother of course" He looks at Christine who goes pale and nods.

Erik stands and walks towards the open balcony windows. He turns and looks at her. "Think well upon my offer my dear...until tomorrow" He steps into the night. She races to the window but he has vanished like a ghost. She stares after him with longing in her soul. Her heart begins to flutter in her chest. A feeling she has not felt for nearly ten years.

The door opens and Raoul storms in drunk. "Mister Y was not even there in person. He had sent one of his circus freaks to do business on his behalf. Can you believe it?"

Christine has seen this kind of mood before and sends Gustave to bed. "What did they say dear?"

Raoul sneers at her. "We have to be at the main concert hall at eleven AM sharp for you to meet the stage manager and the producer." He smirks to himself. "I told Mister Y's goon that I have also doubled your fee or we leave."

Christine looks shocked. "Oh Raoul...you shouldn't have done that"

He glares at her angrily. "Don't tell me what I can or cannot do"

"I'm sorry Raoul...I meant nothing by it" She backs away from him.

He grabs her wrists. "I'm your husband do you hear and I expect to be treated like your husband...in fact I have a better idea...my darling" He spits those last words like a curse on his lips. He drags her into the bedroom roughly and slams the door. Gustave peeps around his bedroom door with tears in his eyes as he hears his mother whimper quietly next door.

The next morning they make their way to the main concert hall. A vast building it sits at the very heart of the park with the Eyrie rising like a huge spike into the sky above. Christine gazes up at the spire knowing that up there somewhere Erik is sat thinking of her and dreaming his dark dreams. A thrill of pleasure runs through her and helps to block out the violence of last night.

They enter the building and Gustave races ahead gazing in wonder at the incredible architecture of the place. She looks to and sees Erik's hand at work in every curve and cornice. She smiles to herself at his great craftsmanship and being here gives her a strange feeling of comfort that she has not felt for the longest time. They head into the backstage area in search of the manager and producer.

A young girl walks down the corridor in front of them carrying a stage costume. Christine calls to her. "Excuse me miss we are looking for the stage managers office"

The girl turns flicking her long blonde hair. "Well it's just down here...oh my goodness...Christine?" Her face lights up as she runs forward. "Christine it's me it's Meg"

"Meg oh what are you doing here?" Christine hugs her with great affection remembering their childhood friendship and time in the corps de ballet.

"I work here now, Christine. I'm the headline act...the star of the show...can you believe it?...Look at you as regal as a queen and so beautiful" Meg takes in her

appearance and smiles.

"You look just the same Meg"

"Why are you here Christine?"

"I'm here as a treat for my son, Gustave, and to sing" She holds out her hand to her son. "Come and meet Miss Giry a very dear old friend" Gustave approaches Meg and smiles.

"To sing?...I don't understand" Meg looks confused and upset.

"It's just one song, Meg an aria"

"An aria...oh..." Meg's pretty face falls in disappointment. "I see"

Raoul interrupts the reunion. "We are looking for the stage manager and the producer"

Madame Giry steps through a doorway looking shocked. "I am the stage manager and producer...I was not informed of this change in the programme"

Raoul thrusts the contract under her nose. "Well what a pleasant surprise" He says sarcastically. "Like a happy reunion"

Madame Giry snatches the contract from him and studies it with horror on her face. "This fee is outrageous and poor Meg is meant to be the star of the show"

"Well I'm very sorry to hear that but Christine was offered this fee by Mister Y to out bid the offer from Oscar Hammerstein so I suggest you complain to your employer not to me" Raoul snatches the contract back smugly. "And who is this Mister Y anyway?"

Madame Giry glares into his eyes and a smile curls the corner of her lips. "It's...Him"

Raoul pales and stares open mouthed. "Him...You work for him?"

"Yes and so now do you it would appear" Madame Giry smirks at him.

"My god, Christine will be appalled we thought him dead" He rubs his face trying to make some sense of the situation.

"Unless of course she knew he was still alive Monsieur" Madame Giry looks past Raoul to where Christine and Meg are stood in an awkward silence.

"Did you know about this Christine?...I demand to know...at once" His face turns red in anger and humiliation.

"I'm sorry Raoul. I didn't know until we got here" tears well up in her eyes.

"I see. Save the tears Christine I've seen quite enough of them these past ten years to last me a lifetime. How could you keep something like this from me?"

Christine stumbles forward reaching for him. "Please Raoul try and understand" She reaches for his hand but he pulls it away in disgust.

"I'm through with all this Christine. We've been married for ten years and that entire time I know that I've been compared to that...freak in every way" He pushes past them towards to exit door. "You may stay and do as your monster instructs...just as you've always done. I shall be returning on a boat to Cherbourg tonight...alone" He slams out of the building.

Christine starts to go after him but suddenly stops looking around. "Gustave...where is Gustave?" She looks around in fear. "Where can he be?"

One of Erik's fairground freaks leads Gustave up the long winding staircase into the uppermost chamber of the Eyrie. The young boy looks around in amazement at the array of mechanical creations and inventions around the dimly light room. "Is this where Mister Y lives?"

"This is where he works. Step lively child the master is expecting you" The freak points his long finger in the direction of a figure hunched over a magnificent pipe organ. He backs from the room leaving Gustave and Erik alone. Gustave stands unsure of if to approach the dark figure. His eyes travel to the keyboard of a piano and he crosses to it and tentatively presses a few keys creating a beautiful melody.

Erik sits up straight and turns in his seat fixing the young boy with his yellow eyes. "What's this?"

Gustave looks embarrassed and stops playing. "Just a song from my head, I hear them all the time in my dreams"

Erik stands quickly knocking his chair over. He crosses to Gustave and kneels in front of him gazing into his deep blue eyes. "You have your mother's eyes Gustave" suddenly the light catches them, revealing tiny flecks of golden yellow amongst the blue. "How old are you boy?"

"I'm ten years old sir" He beams at Erik.

"My god...It cannot be" He grabs Gustave's hand and stands up excitedly. "Come with me boy. I have something to show you. I want to know what you think" He pulls Gustave along with him into a long hall filled with glass cases of exhibits featuring freaks of nature, oddities and human prodigies.

Gustave runs among the cases staring in wonder but not fear at the truly horrific creations. "They're beautiful truly beautiful. I can see their beauty underneath Mister Y I really can"

Erik steadies himself against the wall the truth crashing over him. "This boy is too beautiful. What I suspect cannot be" He rushes forward gripping Gustave and turning him to face him. "You have no fear of the beauty underneath...you will accept it?"

Gustave's eyes shine with excitement. "Yes!"

"Let me show you the true beauty underneath" Erik removes his mask revealing his noseless face, deep black eye sockets and sunken yellow cheeks. A few strands of hair hang down from his forehead. Gustave's eyes widen and suddenly a horrified shriek erupts from his mouth at the horror in front of him.

"Gustave!" Christine's voice rings out across the room. The young boy breaks free from Erik and races to his mother's protective embrace tears of shock pouring down his face. "I'm here darling it's alright, it's alright"

Erik turns on her with fury flashing in his burning eyes. "Is there something I should know? Do you have something to confess? You had better tell me now if so"

Christine turns to Meg who has followed her up to the Eyrie. "Can you take Gustave for me while we talk?"

Meg looks stunned and confused. This is becoming a very bad day. She nods reluctantly and gazes longingly at her beloved Master as she leads Gustave away and down to her dressing room.

"A son, I have a son?" He advances on Christine menacingly. "How could you think I would not guess?"

She straightens up and stares into his eyes steadily. "We both made choices ten years ago, Erik. Hard choices and we have both had to live with the consequences ever since"

"But that was then. This is now. Look how things have changed. We are meant to be together you and I"

Christine reaches up and touches his disfigured face as a wave of love flows over her that has been bottled up for ten long agonising years. "Can this truly be real, Erik?"

"It can be as real as we wish it to be. I will have my Christine and my son at my side. All of this will be his" He lifts Christine's face to his and their lips meet in a desperate loving kiss many years in the making.

Unknown to the two lovers Meg had secretly crept back up the stairs and heard everything. She recoils in horror as they kiss. Huge tears of hate and rage swell up in her eyes as she silently returns to her dressing room where Gustave is playing. She sits at the dressing table staring at her tear streaked reflection.

How could he just cast her aside? After the love they had shared together. Her hand touches her tummy where Erik's twins are secretly growing within her. She opens a drawer in her dressing table and takes out a black mask, one of the masters. It smells of his cologne. She places it on her own face and breathes deeply savouring his smell. She looks down at her dressing table where the daily newspaper has a photograph of Christine on the front page. The headline reads;

"Diva of the century set to wow crowds as headline act at Phantasma"

Meg's beautiful mouth curls into a vicious sneer and she pulls a pin from her blonde hair and stabs it into Christine's photograph over and over. Suddenly she stops and turns to face Gustave still wearing the mask. "Gustave, would you like to play a little game?"

**Chapter 2 – A Woman Scorned**

**Coney Island, New York- 1891**

Gustave stares with wide eyes at the masked figure of Meg sat facing him at her dressing table. Only the lower part of her face is visible to him and a wicked sneer spreads across her lips. "Would you like to play a little game?"

Gustave shakes his head. "I think I should like to go and find my Mama please Miss Giry"

"Oh no my little friend, your mother is a little busy at the moment. I don't think she would appreciate you interrupting her, Gustave"

He bites his lip and looks down at his feet sadly. Meg removes the mask taking one last moment to savour the scent of Erik's expensive cologne before placing it back in the little drawer beneath her dressing table. She caresses it lovingly before locking it safely away in secret. She pats the chair beside her and gestures Gustave to sit beside her. He does so looking very nervous.

"Are you alright, Miss Giry?"

She looks at him and nods her head slowly. "I will be...everything will be alright" She places her hand protectively on her tummy. "When he knows everything will be like it was before...I know it"

Gustave looks up at her pretty face. "You look very sad, what's wrong?"

"Well I love someone very much and I have given everything to make this person happy and content...Done things that no one should have to do...and I'm even carrying his babies and suddenly a wicked and cruel woman who broke his heart many years ago has turned his head and he has forgotten me"

Gustave looks utterly appalled and he slowly puts his arms around Meg and hugs her. "That is a very sad story. I hope this wicked lady ends up sad like you are and loses everything"

Meg strokes his hair and smiles down at him. "Oh she will, Gustave. I promise you that she will taste nothing but bitter tears of sorrow"

Meanwhile high above in the Eyrie Christine and Erik are lost in one another's arms. "Raoul has returned to France and finally you are here with me where you belong. At last we can have the life we always wanted my love" says Erik as he cradles her to him.

Christine gazes up at her angel of music and the pain and hurt she has suffered over the past ten years seems to vanish in the blink of an eye. "Oh, Erik can this really be true?"

A cold voice suddenly breaks their moment. "And what about Meg, is she nothing then?" It is Madame Giry.

Christine looks puzzled. "What about Meg, I don't quite understand what you mean?"

Erik rolls his eyes and sighs but Madame Giry cuts him short before he can speak. "My daughter, your oldest friend is or rather was Erik's...play thing it would appear"

Christine looks shocked and turns to Erik. "Why did you not tell me?"

He looks at Madame Giry angrily. "I was going to tell you if I had not been interrupted. What went on between Meg and I was just a distraction for me. I made that clear to her right from day one"

Madame Giry's eyes flash in anger. "Well it would appear that poor Meg is unaware of this fact as she is completely besotted by you"

Erik sits down with a sigh. "Oh what a mess this is. Poor Meg...I thought she always understood our arrangement. I was lonely and needed someone. I'm not a piece of stone, Christine"

Christine kneels before him and takes his hands in hers. "You must do right by Meg. I love you with all my heart, Erik but before we can be together you must put things right with Meg. I must go to her and explain."

Madame Giry shouts angrily. "Put things right?...You foolish girl. You have come here with your bastard child and ruined everything that I had planned"

Erik and Christine stare at her outburst. "What do you mean what you had planned?" He asks in shock.

"Erik I have helped you create this place and so has Meg. We helped you escape from Paris when the mob surrounded you. Who was there for you? Meg was there for you. She brought you to me and we helped you escape to America. Where was Christine?" Madame Giry paces up and down angrily banging her black cane on the floor as she does.

"What are you saying, Madame?...You are forgetting yourself" Erik gets to his feet angrily.

She continues as if she has not heard his words. "Christine turned her back on you. Rejected your genius for a handsome face and fame but not us we advised you and cared for you. I knew Meg was besotted with you so it was not hard for me to convince her to climb into your bed and comfort you. I knew that once you had slept with her you would feel obligated to her and would ensure that whatever happened she would be provided for. Eventually there would have been children and then everything would pass to us one day"

Erik looks horrified. "I thought you were my friend Madame"

She sneers at him. "You are a weak romantic fool, Erik. You always were and always will be and unfortunately so too is my daughter. Despite your appearance deep down you are a descent man and I knew I could rely on that for you to look after Meg once she had slept with her. You even started writing songs for her...You fool"

"You have been pulling the strings like some terrible puppeteer behind the scenes for the past ten years. You have used me and crushed your daughter's heart by pushing her to love a man that you knew would never truly love her back...She must be heartbroken"

"She was always a very...fragile child...Who knows what she is capable of now she has been shunned by her precious master. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"

Christine jumps to her feet in horror. "Erik, Gustave is with her...downstairs in her dressing room"

They race to the spiral staircase that leads down to the concert hall. Madame Giry watches them go and leaves through another exit in secret.

They run into the dressing room area of the concert hall. Meg's dressing room is empty. Gustave's music box lays discarded upon the floor. Christine looks around at Erik in utter horror. "My god, where is my son?"

As Christine and Erik are searching the dressing rooms frantically searching for Meg she is stood at the end of the Grande Pier with Gustave. The grey Atlantic Ocean crashes below them angrily. "I love the ocean, Gustave; it makes me feel clean again. Washes away all the things that make us sad and lonely" She climbs onto the rail and walks along it like a tightrope walker. "Climb up and copy me, Gustave don't be afraid" She helps him onto to the thin railing as a light rain begins to fall. Meg skips easily along the rail using her skills as a dancer leaving Gustave balancing alone over the dizzying drop to the icy sea below. She turns. "Come to me, there is no need be afraid, Meg is here"

Gustave wobbles on top of the railing and looks down with fear in his eyes. "I want my mama, I'm frightened"

Meg holds out her hand to him and smiles but it is not a friendly smile in any way. "Come here boy"

Suddenly Christine's trembling voice breaks the silence. "Meg...please let him go" She stands in the light rain her beautiful red hair plastered around her sweet face. "He is not to blame"

Meg snarls at her. "No your right he is not to blame, you are. Why couldn't you have just stayed away from here, from us, from...Erik"

Christine takes a step forward "I'm sorry Meg, you are my dearest friend. I didn't know, I couldn't have known that you loved him"

Meg begins to weep, her tears mingling with the rain lashing her pretty face. She grabs Gustave and holds him over the edge. He squeals in terror. Christine moves closer. Meg glares at her angrily. "Don't make me, I will do it, Christine I swear, I have nothing to lose now"

As all this is going on, Erik arrives on the pier a few moments behind his beloved Christine. He quickly surveys the situation and unseen by Meg he climbs over the railing and dangles by his hands under the pier. The metal is wet with spray from the ocean and he feels his fingers slipping. He pushes himself forward using the steel girders and supports to move along underneath out of sight of Meg and Christine. As he reaches the end of the pier he glances up and sees Meg and Gustave above him.

Gustave looks down at the ocean and to his surprise he sees Mister Y below him. Erik raises a finger to his lips to signal to Gustave not to cry out or alert Meg that he is there. Gustave gives a barely noticeable nod of understanding.

Above on the pier Christine is trying to reason with Meg when Madame Giry runs up. "Meg, please, come down my daughter, I was wrong, I was wrong"

Meg stares at her as if she is a stranger for a few moments. "Mother, you said he loved me, you promised he would love me, you did you swore that I would be his angel of music now, you promised" Her voice becomes hysterical and shrill as she vents her rejection on her mother.

Madame Giry edges closer. "I was wrong, Meg. Do not blame anyone else but me. Not Christine, not Erik and certainly not the boy"

"But you said if I gave myself to him he would love me" She looks across the water and sings to herself. "Bathing beauty on the beach, bathing beauty in her dressing room, bathing beauty in the dark, on their laps, in their arms, in their beds" She sobs uncontrollably. At that moment Erik appears over the railing and pushes her and Gustave forward onto the wooden deck of the pier. Gustave runs forward into Christine's waiting arms. Meg sprawls onto the wet ground and lays weeping.

Madame Giry rushes forward and throws her coat around her daughter's shoulders. "I am so sorry my little Meg, forgive me"

Christine gazes down at Meg with pity in her eyes despite all that has happened but Erik takes her by her shoulder and leads her away. "I think Meg and her Mother have much to discuss and it would be better if we were not there while they did it my love"

They walk back towards the concert hall as the rain starts to fall in torrents. Erik throws his cloak over Christine and Gustave and ushers them inside and up to his luxurious quarters in the Eyrie.

A short time later after Gustave has been in a warm bath and tucked up in a bed to rest Christine walks into the sitting room. She finds Erik sat before a lovely blazing log fire. He is starring into the flames deep in thought and does not notice her presence until she kneels beside his chair and presses a gentle kiss to his hand. He looks up as if startled and smiles when he sees her big blue eyes gazing lovingly at him. He kisses her gently and runs a hand over her hair. "I always loved your hair you know"

She smiles and then notices a letter on the small table besides his chair. It is post marked from Paris dated two weeks ago. "What is that, Erik?"

"It's from Nadir, do you remember him?"

Her hand rises to her mouth as she recalls the strange, mysterious Persian who ten years before had helped Raoul find his way down to Erik's lair beyond the underground lake. She had understood at the time that there was more to the relationship between the two men than mere rivalry. "Yes, I remember him, Erik"

He smiles as he recalls. "Yes, I thought you might. You will know him only from that night in the lair but I was friends with Nadir for nearly 20 years before then. He was the Daroga of Mezanderan in Persia while I travelled there"

She nods and smiles. "I remember you saying about your time in Persia my love"

"I helped Nadir with something and in return he saved my life from the fury of the Shah when he wanted my head. Nadir smuggled me out of Persia at great risk to himself"

Christine blinks in surprise. "I never realised you were both that close. What did you do for him?"

He looks at you with his sad eyes. "I killed his son"

Christine looks horrified. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"His son Reza was a gentle and most beautiful boy but alas he was inflicted with an illness for which there was no cure. Little by little the boy faded before his father's eyes. Every day I watched those both suffer. Nadir knew it would be a mercy but he could not bring himself to end it. How could he? He loved his son, so I did what needed to be done. I helped the boy slip into the hands of god and I held him in my arms Christine and I wept for him"

Christine looks into his eyes and takes his hand gently. "My poor, Erik, you did the right thing for Reza and his father" She rests her head on his lap. "Why does he write now, dear?"

Erik picks up the envelope. "He is dying and wants to see me before he passes to the next world. I must return to Paris, Christine. I owe him nothing less than to comply with his last wishes"

Christine looks up alarmed. "Erik, you are still wanted by the law in France"

"I have no choice and with luck I will be there and back before the Surete even know I was in the country"

"But if they catch you it will mean the guillotine" Says Christine with horror in her eyes.

Erik nods and sighs. "I am aware of this but I owe Nadir this last act of respect"

She bows her head and nods. "You are not going alone"

"I was hoping you would say that my love"

Across the other side of the park at Madame Giry's apartment, Meg lays curled up in her Mothers bed. The older woman sits snoozing in the chair by the bed where she has been keeping vigil on her poor broken daughter for many hours. Meg rests her hand over her stomach and a single cold tear rolls down her pale cheek. She slips from the bed and walks from the bedroom to the front door of the apartment. "My poor babies, you have no father now" She opens the door and stands at the top of the stairs. "I love you so much, Erik" She pitches herself forward and crashes down the steps.

Erik sits with Christine at the piano as he plays the opening bars to the new aria she is to sing tomorrow night at the opening of Phantasma. She sings with utter perfection and she feels that she has been transported back in time to the lair but this time the roles have been reversed and she is now seducing Erik with her voice instead of him hypnotising her.

There is a sudden knock at the door. Erik shouts for them to enter obviously furious at the interruption to his time with you. One of his fairground freaks enters and crosses to him and whispers something in his ear. Erik gasps in shock and orders the freak to prepare his carriage.

"What has happened, Erik?" Christine asks with concern spreading across her face.

"It's Meg, She has done something very stupid"

Christine jumps to her feet. "Is she alright, what has happened?"

"She has fallen down a flight of stairs. She is in the hospital now. I must go there and see that she is alright"

Christine nods and agrees with him. "I would come too but I think I am the last person she needs to see right now"

"Stay here and look after poor Gustave. He needs you more than Meg does" Erik kisses her and grabs his hat and cloak before sweeping from the apartment and down to his carriage.

Christine gazes down watching Erik's carriage drive into the wet and bleak night and she feels dread building in her stomach as if this is merely the start of something dark and terrible in their lives. Far below as he leaves the park a similar feeling begins to grow in Erik's heart.

The carriage arrives at the hospital and Erik enters and is shown to Meg's private room. Madame Giry is sat by the bed with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Erik what have I done to my little Meg?" He gazes down at Meg's sad broken figure laying in the bed. "There is something you must know"

"What?" he sits beside her.

"The doctors say she was pregnant with twins"

Erik gasps in shock. "Twins you say?"

Madame Giry nods. "I had no idea"

"Wait you said she was pregnant?"

Madame Giry sighs sadly. "Oui, she lost them both in the fall. Your twins, Erik"

He closes his eyes at the revelation and silent tears well up hidden behind his mask. "How did the accident happen?"

"I do not know. I awoke to find her at the foot of the stairs and called the doctor at once. She has not regained consciousness since"

Erik sits on the edge of the bed and brushes a strand of blonde hair from Meg's bruised face. "I am so sorry, Meg. If only you knew. I did love you in my own way but it just was not enough to build a life together" He kisses her forehead gently and stands turning to Madame Giry. "I am heading to Paris within the month. When I return we will discuss this

whole situation"

Madame Giry lowers her head in shame. "Yes monsieur. As you say"

Erik tries to hide his anger. "Don't worry I will ensure that you and poor Meg are amply rewarded for all the hard work you have done for me over the past ten years just as I always swore you would. It is just a pity your greed drove you to destroy a beautiful young woman in the process. Good night Madame Giry"

He sweeps his cloak about himself and stalks out of the room. Madame Giry follows him down the corridor trying to apologise and begging to make amends. In the small room Meg opens her eyes briefly. "Paris, I love Paris" She closes her eyes as Madame Giry returns to the bedside in tears.

**Paris, France - Four Weeks Later**

The train pulls slowly into the station freshly arrived from Cherbourg. In the private compartment on the train Erik makes the final adjustments to his disguise that he hopes will help him evade the law during his stay. He places a mask made of a rubberised substance over his whole head and then places a pair of dark glasses on to disguise the eyes. Christine nods.

"Well I prefer you as you normally are my love but yes I must agree I think the disguise will at least pass a casual inspection. What is it?"

"I is a new substance I call Latex. I believe it could have number of applications for stage make up but more importantly helping unfortunate individuals who have facial disfigurements to lead a more normal life. In public at least"

She smiles at him and takes his hands. "You truly are a genius, Erik"

Gustave looks up at the new disguise and screws his face up. "It's okay I suppose but I prefer your black mask you normally wear as it looks more mysterious, Papa"

Erik looks at the boy and smiles. It was strange getting used to that word, Papa. A simple word that so many people took for granted but that he thought he would never hope to hear in a thousand years. Christine looks and instinctively knows what he is thinking and squeezes his hands in encouragement.

Erik leads them from the busy station to a brougham cab at the curb side. He helps his family in as the driver loads their cases into the luggage rack on the roof. "Where to, monsieur?" He asks without even giving a second glance.

"The Hotel de L'Opera at once" Erik climbs in next to Gustave and Christine as the cab weaves its way through the busy streets of Paris. He looks out at the hustle and bustle and he realises that deep down he has missed this city despite all that he has built on Coney Island. As they round a corner into the Rue Auber and Rue Scribe the vast facade of the Garnier comes into view and Erik's breathe catches in his throat. As the carriage passes the portico he stares until it passes from view. A few moments later they arrive at the Hotel and the brougham stops. The driver clambers down and unloads their luggage as they climb down to the pavement. Within minutes they are being escorted to their suite of rooms.

Gustave runs around the room and inspects everything happily. Christine looks at Erik and asks, "Is it strange to be back after so long my love?"

"I was alright until we passed the Opera and it brought everything back as if it was yesterday. I have not deluded myself into thinking that this will be an easy trip for any of us. I have arranged to go and see Nadir tomorrow. He says some funny little journalist has being sniffing around asking questions about the events of ten years ago"

Christine looks startled. "A journalist, What does he want, Erik?"

"Nadir said he seemed a pleasant enough fellow by all accounts"

"I do hope so, Erik you need to keep a very low profile while you are here. What is the man's name did Nadir say?"

"He said it was Gaston Leroux I think"

They spend a quiet night in the hotel and once Gustave is asleep Erik and Christine have an opportunity to spend some time together in private. They sit on the bed in their private room and he gazes at her in adoration as she lets her silk dressing gown slide from her shoulders. She removes the pins from her hair and shakes her head making it cascade down her back in a shower of red curls. Erik looks at her naked body. Pale and fragile she has lost none of her youth except for the ugly scars and bruises left from years of physical abuse at the hands of her drunken husband. He removes his mask and kisses her scars gently as if the touch of his loving lips will somehow heal them as they heal her soul. A tear rolls down his sunken cheek and she brushes it away.

"Do not cry my love for tonight you have your little Christine and she has her Angel of Music"

He wipes the tear away and sighs. "I told him to look after my child"

She sees the black fury rising in his burning eyes and distracts him, placing his hand on her breast. "Do you feel my heart beating my love?"

He nods his head. "Yes, I can feel it"

"Then know that it beats for you darling. It has always been yours since the night you took me through the mirror. You frightened me, Erik but I realised that my fear of you was in fact the most exquisite love of all"

He nods. "In many ways I have much to thank Raoul for"

She smiles."Thank him, dear, Why?"

"If he had not come blundering back into your life I do not know if I would have had the courage to reveal my true self to you. When he came to your dressing room that night I saw in sudden realisation that all my plans were about to come crashing down in flames about me. The way he looked at you told me at once that your refusals to go to dinner with him would not put him off for long. I did not plan to spirit you away that night but did it on the spur of the moment out of desperate panic"

She caresses his cheek softly. "My poor, Erik, You must have been so very lonely. But look now you have me and a son, a son my love. You have the greatest gifts that the world can offer"

He lays her back on the bed and kisses her passionately. He leans across and blows out the lamp plunging the room into darkness. "I love you, Christine"

The next morning Gustave wakes them stood at their bedroom door with bed hair sticking up on his head. Christine giggles and takes him to bathe and get dressed while Erik orders them some room service instructing that the tray be left by the door and that no one was to enter the suite under any circumstances. He goes o the other bathroom to wash and shave and he picks out a suitably sombre suit of clothes to wear to visit his dying friend.

After they have breakfasted they leave the hotel and take a brougham cab the Rue de Rivoli where Nadir had made his very modest home. Erik takes a deep breath as they pull up outside and looks up at the run down building. Nadir had been living on a small pension awarded to him by the Shah since his retirement and although it was enough to get by on it hardly afforded a champagne lifestyle.

The door to the apartment block is opened by Darius, Nadir's faithful servant. He has been expecting them and leads up the dark dingy stairway to the Persian's apartment on the second floor. He ushers them inside and approaches a little old man sat stooped in a chair by the fire. Darius bends and whispers in the old man's ear. He looks up at Erik from his haggard face but the green eyes are as sharp as ever. Erik realises with shock that this old man is in fact his old friend. "I knew you would come old friend"

Erik crosses to Nadir's side and kneels by the chair. "Nadir, my trusted conscience" His voice breaks slightly at these words and Christine can tell he is obviously close to tears at the sad state of his long time friend.

Nadir looks up at Christine and extends his hands to her. "Ah, my dear lady the very sight of you brings to my heart such joy as at the singing of a nightingale"

Christine takes his hand and introduces Gustave. Nadir nods with approval and looks at the family group smiling. Erik fetches a chair for Christine and they spend a pleasant afternoon discussing the old days at the opera.

Gustave listens with wide eyed excitement. "You really built and lived in that place, Papa?"

"Yes, Gustave" Erik smiles at him, "But it is not my greatest creation"

Gustave looks puzzled. "You mean Phantasma?"

"No my boy, I mean you" Erik ruffles his hair. They hear the door bell ring and the sound of Darius going down the stairs to open the door.

Nadir looks at Erik and Christine. "I think my guest has arrived"

Erik looks at him and stands facing the door as he hears Darius returning with the sound of someone huffing and puffing up the stairs behind him. The door opens and Darius ushers a short, plump man with a neat moustache and beard into the room. He has a pair of glasses perched on the very end of his nose. Nadir smiles, "Erik, may I introduce Monsieur Gaston Leroux"

Leroux extends a trembling hand to Erik and stammers, "I knew you were real"

Erik shakes his hand firmly and introduces Christine and Gustave. Leroux pulls out a handkerchief and wipes his eyes.

"Are you quite well, Monsieur? Asks Erik.

Leroux nods his head and sits down. "You have your little Christine and a son, a happy ending for you. I am so pleased"

They sit and Leroux explains he is writing a book about the mystery of Le Fantome de L'Opera. His investigations had lead him to Erik's old lair beneath the Garnier where he had unearthed a number of letters and documents, amongst the remains of Erik's possessions, that the mob had not destroyed on the night they had found the hiding place of the masked man who had haunted their very lives. He explained that the letters had lead him to Nadir who had explained the story to him but had refused to divulge if the mysterious Opera Ghost was in fact alive or dead.

Leroux opens the leather satchel he is clutching to his chest and takes out a thick bundle of letters and a ladies glove and hair ribbon. He hands them to Christine and smiles. "I believe these to be yours Madame"

She takes the bundle and is transported to the days she spent with her Angel in the catacombs beneath the theatre. "Thank you, Monsieur Leroux"

Erik looks into the novelists eyes and says sternly. "Monsieur, I must ask a favour of you"

Leroux nods and states that he would be happy to agree to anything.

"I am happy for you to write your book but I must ask that it must end with me dying alone beneath the Opera"

Leroux looks stunned. "I do not understand your meaning"

Erik smiles sadly. "The Phantom of the Opera died ten years ago. I am Erik Deveraux, a successful but reclusive millionaire amusement park owner in America. I have a beautiful wife and son and that man I was no longer exists"

Leroux nods and agrees to complete his book as Erik wishes. "I will of course send a copy to you" He stands and after shaking hands he leaves. Erik turns and sees that Nadir has drifted to sleep by the fire. Darius covers his knees with a blanket.

Erik crosses and looks into the old man's care worn face. His oldest and only true friend he has ever known. He leans forward and gently kisses Nadir's forehead. "Good bye my old friend" He stands and turns away lifting his mask to wipe his eyes. Christine gently touches his shoulder to comfort him.

Erik leaves quickly to cover his sadness and returns to the carriage where he sits back in the shadows within. Christine and Gustave follow him and they return to the hotel once more passing before the opera house. Gustave stares, almost transfixed by the building, yearning to explore its hidden secret places where his mother and father met all those years before but knowing they have no desire to return there and relive the heart ache they felt then.

They arrive back at the hotel and retire to their suite of rooms. Erik excuses himself and goes to sit alone for a time in the bedroom to collect his thoughts about his dying friend knowing that the end is hours away. Christine sits playing with Gustave and slowly she drifts into a light sleep still exhausted from the long journey yesterday. Gustave looks at her and quietly puts on his coat and hat and slips from the room.

He goes through the lobby of the hotel and onto the busy streets of Paris. He looks at the road signs knowing that he should head towards the Place de L'Opera which opens wide before the front of the Palace Garnier. He dodges among the crowds trying not to get in the way of people bustling on their way.

As he reaches the Opera he stares up at the vast building. His father built this place with his friend Charles Garnier, yet no recognition of his father exists other than the strange legend of Le Fantome de l'Opera. He shakes his head sadly and walks up the steps and through the main doors. He is quickly lost and unnoticed among the crowds of visitors being shown around the foyer.

He makes his way backstage without any clear idea of where he is going. He comes to a dimly lit corridor that leads to a dressing room set apart from all the rest. He pushes the door open realising that this was the very room used by his mother. He enters and breathes in the air and atmosphere of this most important place. The room looks like any other theatre dressing room except for the huge mirror which covers one entire wall.

Gustave looks at the dressing table and imagines his mother sitting there ten years ago brushing her beautiful red hair gazing into her mirror, her bright blue eyes looking back at her as her angel of music sings songs in her head.

He turns his attention to the mirror and presses his face to the cold glass imagining his father's voice filling the room putting his mother under its spell. He remembers her telling him how he had somehow spirited her away using the mirror and taken her to his kingdom deep beneath the theatre across the underground lake that exists down there. The glass seemed solid enough and there was certainly nothing supernatural about it. His eyes notice a slight imperfection in the pattern in the wall paper and he presses it. His ears detect the faintest click and then the sound of a weight or counter balance being dropped. The mirror appears to shimmer and lift slightly in its ornate gilt frame. He gasps as a blast of icy cold air hits him and he finds himself in utter darkness.

He looks back through the mirror into the dressing room beyond realising that this was the exact spot where is father stood every morning when he came to give his mother her singing lessons, where he stood on the night he decided to finally reveal himself to her out of desperation because Raoul had arrived at her dressing room door after seeing her perform. He looks down and sees a hair ribbon now damp and mouldy from the years and he knows this must have slipped from her hair as she struggled against the mysterious figure with the ice cold hands that seized her without warning trying to stifle her screams.

Gustave's eyes slowly become accustomed to the dark and he follows the tunnel until he comes to a trap door by which stands an oil lamp and a box of matches. He lights the lamp and looks down into the black hole before him. He takes a deep breath and climbs down the ladder. It has become old and rotten from disuse and he takes care unsure how far below lies the stone floor of the cellars.

He finds himself in a narrow tunnel where a natural spring bubbles from the wall and realises that this is where his mother had her face bathed by the Phantom after she had fainted at his touch and where Caesar his horse had been tethered to help transport her to the shores of the lake far below. He follows the tunnel deeper and deeper. In the distance he sees the fiery glare of the furnaces used to heat the building far above. He walks around a circular gallery knowing that he is now under the auditorium which is quite small for such a huge theatre.

The tunnel leads down deeper and deeper until he finally senses the air becoming colder and damper. He walks through an arch and sees the underground lake before him. He gasps at the cold down here and as he sits on the shore a tear trickles down his young face at the thought of his poor father forced to live down here because of his appearance. Gustave cannot see the far side of the lake but knows beyond lies the house his father built within the double foundation walls. Secret and hidden from the hatred of men who had shunned him and who he in turn had grown to hate and envy in equal measure.

Meanwhile in the hotel Erik walks into the sitting room of their suite. He sees Christine snoozing and smiles to himself. He goes into Gustave's room looking for him intending to spend some time with him. The room is empty and his toys un-played with on the floor. He walks back into the sitting room and hunts in the other rooms becoming worried. "Christine, Where is Gustave?"

She opens her eyes looking about in surprise. "Erik, he is here somewhere"

"No his room is empty and he is not in the suite at all"

Christine jumps to her feet in alarm. "Oh my god, Erik, Where can he have gone?"

Erik looks about trying to think. His eyes see the golden statue of Apollo sitting at the apex of the roof of the Opera. "He's gone to the opera, I know he has"

They quickly head out into the street and hurry towards the theatre with fear building in their hearts as to what they may find.

Meanwhile a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak moves down the pavement to an apartment block in the Rue Auber. The building looks boarded up but he was told to expect this and he pushes the front door and it creaks open to reveal a narrow hallway. He moves forward silently and up the stairs until he comes to the second floor apartment. The name card by the door is faded and mouldy. He vaguely makes out the name Giry. He knocks lightly and a few moments later the door opens to allow him in.

A smaller figure stands before him in the shadows also wearing a black hooded cloak. "I'm glad you came, I knew I could count on you"

He pushes back his hood to reveal a hard cold face with cruel grey eyes like winter skies. "I can deny you nothing, Meg I never could"

She looks up at him and smirks. "You always did what your Meg wanted you to do, didn't you, like a good little doggy" She kisses him gently.

"Where have you been?" He pulls away from her kiss. "Ten years I have had nothing from you"

"I'm sorry my darling but Mother made me leave and go to America to make our fortunes. I hated to leave you" She places his hand on her firm breast. "You know my heart beats only for you"

He licks his lips and tries to pull away but her hold over him is as strong now as it was twelve years ago when she first seduced him when he worked for the managers of the Opera carrying out various tasks they found to distasteful to dirty their hands with. As soon as he had laid eyes on the little ballet girl he had been her faithful slave, her little doggy as she called him.

"Why have you come back here?" He demands trying to sound masterful.

"I have come back to see you my doggy of course, why else" She sucks his finger looking up at him with her beautiful green eyes.

"Bullshit, I'm not totally stupid, Meg despite what you may think"

She looks sulkily at him and slaps his face hard. "You always were a naughty doggy were you not?"

He laughs and takes hold of her wrists. "Why don't you get to the point my sweet and then we can get down to more pleasurable pursuits"

"You bastard, you always were impatient" She leads him into the sitting room where all the furniture is covered in white sheets. She uncovers a chair and pushes him into it smirking and straddling his lap. "Do you remember Christine Daae?"

"Of course I remember her, she was very pretty"

Meg snarls at him and scratches his cheek leaving a deep scar. "Never say that in my presence again doggy"

He puts his hand to his bleeding cheek and smiles. "So the vixen has sharp claws. Now tell me about Christine"

Meg kisses his neck gently. "I want you to damage her badly, make her undesirable to her man"

"Why?" He looks at her puzzled. "Who is this man?"

"That is not your concern but enough for you to know that I have interests that concern him and she is getting in my way"

He stares into her eyes and smiles. "I see, you want him but he's not interested. Why should I care?"

"Because I will make you rich once she is out of the way and you will have all the wealth you ever dreamt of" She sneers.

"I can dream of quite a lot"

"And you shall have it my darling I swear, and from time to time you can have your little Meg too, if you still want me?"

He pulls her lips to him kissing her passionately. "Of course I still want you. You are the only woman I've ever wanted, who has ever understood what I need to satisfy me"

"Good then it is settled that you will do this thing for me then?"

He nods obediently. "I will do whatever you ask of me"

She smiles wickedly and kisses his neck gently. "That is wonderful my good little doggy" She kisses him biting his lower lip drawing blood. "And now you can hurt me if you like"

Erik and Christine arrive at the Opera and rush inside looking for Gustave. They decide to split up and cover as much of the building as they can.

Erik is drawn down to the lower areas of the building and soon he is working his way through the labyrinth of tunnels and passages. He arrives near the lake and begins to make his way slowly along the shore looking for Gustave.

His eyes used to this darkness make out the figure of his child sat beside the water staring across the lake into the gloom. Gustave is singing to himself and Erik stops for a moment to listen to his beautiful voice. He hears footsteps approaching and Christine appears behind her son.

"Gustave, we were so worried about you" She hugs him to her unaware of Erik's presence.

"I'm so sorry Mother but I had to see, I had to see where Papa lived for all those years before he left here"

"This was his kingdom, Gustave, where all must pay homage to music. The seat of sweet music's throne"

"Why was he trapped here, Mother?"

Christine looks at Gustave seriously. "Your father's face which scared you when you first saw it is why he was trapped down here. I was utterly terrified by him when I first pulled his mask off and I was repulsed by his appearance for a long time"

Erik steps back into the shadows at these words and flees back up the tunnel from the lake.

Christine continues. "But I came to see beyond his face to see the man he is inside. He truly is the angel of music Gustave and I suppose he looks the way he does because if he didn't we would be blinded by his brilliance"

Gustave looks at her. "That is a beautiful way to put it Mother"

She takes his hand and she leads him back to the surface. She looks around for Erik but cannot find him and decides she had better get Gustave back to the hotel and get him into a warm bath after him being down in the cold cellars for so long.

As she walks into the hotel suite she is surprised to see Erik sat by the window. He glances at her angrily and she goes to him putting a hand on his shoulder questioningly. He shrugs her off and turns his back on her. She goes to run Gustave his bath and returns a few minutes later. "Erik, what is it, what's wrong?"

"So I repulse you do I?" He says with untold venom in his voice.

She is confused and takes his arm. "Erik, darling I don't quite understand"

"I heard you, I was by the lake and I heard what you said to Gustave about my face repelling you"

She looks stunned. "Oh no Erik, I did not mean it like that"

"Its fine, Christine I know what I am. A freak a side show attraction to amuse the perversions of the crowds" He stands growing increasingly angry. She has seen these tempers before and knows the best thing to do is leave him to calm down on his own.

"Erik, I love you. You are taking what I said to Gustave out of context but there is no point in reasoning with you when you are like this. I'm going for a stroll and when I return we will talk" She puts on her cape and heads to the door closing it quietly behind her.

She walks through the hotel lobby with tears in her eyes. She walks into the street and sets off walking without any clear idea where she is going. Behind her a dark figure in hooded black cloak steps from an alley and shadow her footsteps. He moves silently like a spectral shade his cold cruel eyes fixed on Christine's every move. She looks in shop windows and her mind runs over returning to talk to Erik and resolve the argument.

She is deep in thought and suddenly realises she has wandered into a part of the town she is unfamiliar with. She looks about in alarm at the shabby rundown buildings and unsavoury characters hanging about. She turns to leave and comes face to face with the Shade. She gasps at his unexpected appearance and tries to walk around him. He grabs her roughly and drags her down a darkened alleyway. She fights against him but he is frighteningly strong and her fists pound weakly against his chest.

He pushes her against the wall and clamps a gloved hand across her mouth to stifle her cries. Her eyes are filled with sheer terror as she looks into his cruel hard face. Her confused mind races as she tries to comprehend what is happening to her. He rips the front of her bodice open revealing her naked body and the horrific reality dawns in her mind as his other hand forces her legs apart roughly. She whimpers, "No please, not this"

He licks her face and smiles. "What a little peach you are"

A few minutes later a passerby walks across the end of the alleyway. He hears the sound of a woman's tearful whimpers and a man's satisfied grunts of pleasure. The passerby thinks of helping but then decides he does not want the trouble and hurries on his way.

Erik sits in the hotel room; Gustave is playing at his feet. He glances at the clock and frowns slightly. Christine has been gone for nearly 4 hours. He considers going out to look for her but has no idea where to start looking. Suddenly the door opens and Christine staggers in with her cloak clasped tight to conceal her nakedness. Erik jumps to his feet and runs to her. "Christine what has happened, my god"

She looks at him dazed and faints into his arms. He carries her to the bedroom and lays her gently on the bed. He unfastens her cape and sees her torn clothes and bite marks on her neck and breasts. The bruises on her wrists are enough to tell him she was restrained why this monstrous act was done to her. He feels his stomach turn and he runs to the bathroom to throw up. His little Christine, how could someone defile her like this? He feels tears welling up in his eyes but he stops himself and summons the hotel doctor to check her over.

A short time later after giving her a sleeping draft the doctor turns to Erik. "She has suffered a very violent sexual assault; I'm so very sorry Monsieur"

"Will she recover doctor?" Asks Erik

The doctor nods and states she will recover in due course but for the meantime he must be patient and supportive to her in her fragile condition.

"I promise I shall doctor, and thank you for your help"

The doctor collects his things. "Luckily the assault doesn't seem to have damaged the baby"

"Baby, what baby?"

The doctor smiles at Erik. "She is in the very early stages of pregnancy, Monsieur perhaps no more than weeks"

Erik stands in silence trying to take in the news. Pregnant and only a few weeks, the child was definitely his. The doctor takes his leave and Erik sits on the bed next to her. Gustave is snuggled on the other side of her. He gazes at his little family and gently touches her tummy with his bony fingers. Christine moans softly in her tortured dreams and Erik begins to sing of Little Lotte and her red shoes and of the snowy lands of the north to ease her troubled mind. She slowly settles and he lays beside her listening to her breath. His tears come in silent floods.

Outside Paris at his family's chateau, Raoul de Chagney drains another glass of whiskey and stares into the flames of the log fire before him. He is thinking of Christine and Erik and how he eventually drove her back into her angel's arms through his years of neglect. He had always known Gustave was not his son and he had tried to put the fact from his mind and raise him as the future Comte de Chagney but always at the back of his mind was the thought of his Christine and that hell spawned demon together. The thoughts had grown into resentment and eventually into anger and hatred.

He winces in shame at the way he had treated Christine over the years of their marriage. The drunken rages, the arguments, the snide comments and remarks at every opportunity and taking her to satisfy his carnal needs regardless of if she wanted it or not. He shakes his head and hopes that she is happy now. He suddenly notices the butler stood beside his chair. "What is it Pierre?"

He bows, "You have a visitor monsieur Le Comte"

Raoul looks surprised. "At this hour of the night, well you had better show them in"

Pierre leaves and returns in a few moments with a figure in a black hooded cloak. Meg pushes back her hood and gazes at Raoul with her deep emerald eyes. "Good evening Monsieur"

Raoul looks shocked at seeing her. "Meg, what are you doing here?"

She smirks and kisses his cheek gently. "I've come to take care of you"

**Chapter 3 – The Phantom's Children**

**Coney Island, New York – March 1892**

Christine sits by the window of her apartment watching the rain streaking the glass running in rivers down the pane reminding her of the tears of the past 8 months. Since returning to Phantasma with Erik the events in Paris, at the hands of the mysterious Shade, haunt her dreams every night. The horror of her memories make her wake soaked in sweat and crying out in terror as she feels his violent hands and teeth on her body.

Erik has been a tower of strength tending to her every need and being a loving, guiding hand ever patient and understanding but she also knew that his guilt at what happened to her will never fade in his mind. She had explained to him it was not his fault but it was of little comfort to him. He rarely leaves her side these days and is only away today because he must tend to the opening of the park for the summer season in April.

She rests her hand on her swollen tummy and feels a faint flutter of movement within. The thought of her and Erik's unborn child growing inside her has kept her going over the past months almost as if the child somehow knew of its mother's pain and suffering and wanted to ease her troubled mind. Erik had taken to playing the violin in the evenings and during these periods the baby moved soothingly as if keeping in time to her father's playing. Erik would smile at these times and tell her that this was a wonderful sign.

Little Gustave had taken to his life at Coney Island and when not at his lessons would spend his time with his father creating the most beautiful music or tinkering with small inventions urged on by Erik's skilful hands. Christine smiled to herself that despite the trauma of Paris her life with her Angel of Music could not be happier most of the time. The black rages that used to consume Erik had all but gone and he had even begun sleeping at night. He was dining regularly and had in fact put on a little weight and, although still slender, now had quite an attractive physique.

Christine's mind turns to her old friend Meg. When she and Erik returned to America from Paris they had discovered from her mother, Madame Giry, that her daughter had vanished from the hospital just after they had left for France and she had not been seen since. The disappearance of her child had hit the old ballet mistress hard and she had slowly come to accept that given Meg's mental state at the time she was quite likely dead having taken her own life. Madame Giry's guilt had consumed her soul and her little apartment behind the concert hall had become a shrine to her daughter's better days at the Opera. The old woman would sit and weep alone every night cursing herself for what she had done.

Christine stands slowly and stretches her back. She knew the time of the birth was getting very close now from her memory of carrying Gustave. She crosses to the bed and leans on the iron bedstead for support. A sharp pain suddenly lances through her and she feels a gush of warm fluid down her legs as her waters break. "Erik, Erik!" She doubles over as a labour pain hits her and she is forced to lie down on the bed.

Erik is strolling along the boardwalk with Gustave. He has just bought his son a big pink candy floss from a vendor and takes a small pinch for himself. He smiles as the sweet treat dissolves on his tongue. No wonder he was putting on weight here surrounded by candy stalls and hotdog stands not to mention the ice cream sellers. He chuckles to himself. Who would ever have imagined that the Phantom of the Opera's secret vice was chocolate ice cream with fresh cream poured over it so it froze solid.

He takes out his key and lets himself and Gustave in to the front door of their luxurious apartment he had built onto the eyrie to accommodate his new family. He instantly hears Christine's cries of pain from upstairs and dashes up the steps three at a time with Gustave running behind him. He dashes into their large bedroom and sees his beloved angel lying on the bed in very obvious pain. Her glorious red hair is fanned across the pillows and her bright blue eyes sparkle as she fights the agony. She holds out her delicate hands to him and he takes them.

"Christine what is wrong, what is happening?" He kneels beside the bed placing a kiss on her fevered brow.

"The baby, Erik, the baby is coming" She gasps.

He instantly jumps to his feet in panic. "Oh god, oh god"

Gustave grabs his hand. "Get the doctor, Papa"

"Yes, yes the doctor, of course" He calms himself slightly and instructs Gustave to stay with his mother. Erik rushes out to summon the doctor.

"It will be alright mother, don't worry" He grips her hand for comfort.

Christine loses track of time as the pain grows worse and the contractions become closer together. Erik returns with the doctor and a Midwife who instantly takes charge of the situation ensuring that Christine is as comfortable as she possibly can be. She firmly sends Gustave from the room and instructs her that when she feels the urge to push she is to bear down as hard as she can. Christine does as she is instructed.

The birth seemed to take a long time though in reality it was quick and with great complications. As the baby emerges Christine does not see the look of shock on the doctor or Midwife's faces. She feels a hot tearing sensation and the birth is over. The Midwife wraps the baby in a thick towel and Erik rushes over to see her. He pulls the folds aside and his hand flies to his mouth in surprise. "You have a daughter Mister Y"

Christine holds out her hands for the little bundle wrapped in the towel. The Midwife looks nervously to the doctor and hands the baby to Christine. She pulls the material aside and gazes down on her daughter for the first time.

Her skin is white and smooth contrasting with her shock of thick jet black hair. Her cheek bones are prominent like her father's but not quite so severe and her lips look dark against her pale flesh. She stares up at her mother with her father's eyes. The area around her eyes is dark making her yellow iris look even brighter. She studies her mother intently as if reading her thoughts. Christine kisses her pale forehead gently and smiles. "She's beautiful, my little Suzette"

Erik kneels by the bed and proudly looks at his new child. "Look at how she studies us. Look at her eyes they're so intelligent"

Christine lies back holding her. "She is her father's child and no mistake"

Gustave is let into the room and allowed to see his little sister. If he found anything odd in her appearance it never shows on his face as he plays with her tiny toes marvelling at how little she is. The doctor and the Midwife ensure that Christine is comfortable and eventually leave the family in peace. Erik sits back looking at his family and a tear runs down his cheek.

"The phantom's children, who would have thought it?"

**The De Chagney Estate, Paris, France**

Raoul lies in his bed pale and sickly looking. All his youthful vigour has gone from him since he has been struck by the strange wasting illness that has incapacitated him over the past 5 months. The families' doctors were at a loss to explain it and had tried every single cure in their expertise and yet still he failed to stop losing weight. His hair was dropping out in clumps and was now white and brittle.

He looks across as the door opens and his beautiful nurse maid enters. Dear Meg, how could he have managed these past months without her loving care? She had nursed him day and night, preparing all his meals herself and even bathed him. The short period they had been lovers before his illness had been passionate and frenzied but now he struggled to sit up in bed let alone enjoy the delights of a woman's love. She crosses to the side of the bed and rests a cool hand on his forehead.

"You're awake darling, Raoul. Did I disturb you?"

He weakly shakes his head and presses her hand to his dry cracked lips. "Sit down I need to talk to you"

She sits beside the bed putting his tray of soup to one side. "I am listening my love"

"I have asked the family lawyer to come here today as I am making changes to my will"

She looks at him puzzled. "I don't quite understand, Raoul"

"I am making you my heir, Meg. You will also inherit the other family name of de Barbezac with all the lands and titles that go with it"

She gazes at him and suddenly kisses his forehead. "My sweet there is no need to do this thing for me"

He nods and smiles weakly. "You have been here for me Meg when all others abandoned me. Who better than to inherit my home and lands such as I have left"

She rests her head on his chest with tears in her eyes. "Don't talk that way. You will recover and we will have many happy years ahead of us, I know it"

"No Meg. A man knows when his end is at hand and mine is coming. I feel the chill hand of the reaper upon my soul and I will rest easier knowing that you are taken care of"

Meg rests on his chest listening as his breathing becomes deeper as he drifts to sleep again. She looks up at him and a sneer spreads across her face, her green eyes alight with hatred and malice. She shrugs his hand off and walks from the room leaving him to rest. She walks into her own room and locks the door. She notices a movement at the curtains and turns to see a hooded figure with cruel winter eyes.

He crosses to her. "I have missed you my love"

"Have you?" she brushes her lips close to his almost kissing him. "I have been busy with the invalid next door"

The Shade looks at her. "Why does he still live, Meg?"

"Because until he changes his will I want him alive, I'm thinking of us"

He smiles coldly. "You think of yourself as you have always done like the vicious little sneer you are"

"Vicious? Are you complaining about how I am?"

He shakes his head and kisses her roughly. "I love the way you are, you know it excites me so much"

She pulls away from him. "have you brought the poison like I instructed?"

He hands her a blue glass phial. "That stuff is very dangerous. It will poison anything it touches so be careful with it"

She places the phial in her bedside drawer and lies back on the bed stretching like a cat and turns her green eyes to the Shade. "Come here little doggy"

**Coney Island, New York – 2 months later**

The first weeks of little Suzette's life pass in a whirl of delight and excitement for Erik and Christine. The arrival of this incredible child seemed to lift Christine's spirit from the depths of despair where it has been imprisoned since the rape. Erik still kept a very close eye on her and revelled in every smile and glance his beloved angel of music bestowed on him and the new child she had brought into the world was proving to be nothing short of a miracle child.

A week after Suzette's birth Erik had been cradling her in his arms by the window where he had hung a set of beautiful wind chimes shaped like little cherubs and clouds. Suzette had gazed at the chimes as they jangled in the light April breeze blowing across the park fresh with the scent of the Atlantic Ocean. Their chimes were soothing and reminded Erik of the chimes he had hung outside his window at the Shah's palace during the rosy days at Mezanderan.

As he stood day dreaming Suzette had reached out with her tiny hand and begun to make the chimes play like musical scales. The music snaps him from his day dream and he stares with amazement at her perfect understanding of linking the chimes notes together to form a tune. He realises that the tune is the same one he played to her on the violin while she lay in Christine's womb. "No what I love best, Lottie said is when I'm asleep in my bed and the Angel of Music sings songs in my head" He gently calls Christine who enters the room as Suzette begins to play the notes again.

Christine's hands fly to her mouth in joy. "Oh, Erik, look at her, look at our little angel"

Suzette is totally mesmerised by the music and does not even notice her mother enter the room as she continues to play.

"She is truly the Angel of Music, Christine. She is my spirit and your voice in one combined and made flesh" A tear of joy slips down his cheek.

Suzette stops playing and looks at the tear and gently wipes it away with a tiny finger. Her yellow eyes turn to her mother and a smile spreads across her little face. She reaches out to Christine and Erik gently hands her over. Suzette instantly buries her face in her beautiful red hair and giggles happily.

"She loves your hair as much as I do my darling" He looks at you with the same love in his eyes as he did the first time he took you through the mirror. "Every time I look at you I am amazed by you. You have the most perfect eyes I've ever seen. From the very first moment I saw them I was utterly captivated by you. I think I feel in love with you at that moment but never even dreamed you could ever feel anything back for me. I am so much older than you are"

She kisses him gently. "Erik how could I not love you. You have the most beautiful heart and soul. You're imagination and genius is what I fell in love with at first. My angel of music come down from heaven to save me"

He puts his arms around her lovingly. "I saved you?"

She nods. "You gave me my voice and took me to places I never dreamed of. I felt fear, joy, despair and love the likes of which most people will never know or even begin to understand"

Gustave suddenly runs into the room waving an envelope excitedly in the air. "The mail man has just been and brought this for Mama" He hands it to Christine who balances Suzette on her hip as she rips the envelope open.

"It's a telegram sent from Paris, from Raoul" She says as she studies the contents.

Erik looks shocked and more than a little annoyed at this sudden intrusion into his happy life with Christine by the man he had envied for so many years. "What does he want?"

"He is dying, Erik" She drops the envelope and staggers. Erik dashes forward and grabs her to save her and Suzette crashing to the floor. He guides her to the chaise to sit down. He picks up the telegram and reads it himself.

"He says he thinks he is being poisoned by someone close to him and that he has made a terrible error of judgement in trusting the black hearted vixen. He doesn't say who this woman is though"

Christine looks grief stricken at the news and although her love for Erik is strong and true she cannot help feeling pangs of love for the little boy who ran into the sea at Perros to rescue her red scarf even though she had grown to despair at the bitter, hurtful man he had grown into in the latter years of their ten year marriage. She sighs and passes a hand over her brow sadly. "Poor Raoul, alone in his hour of need"

"Alone? He has an army of servants to cater to his every whim" Erik's tone is dismissive and he instantly regrets his words the moment they leave his mouth.

"Erik how can you be so cruel?" Her voice is on the verge of breaking into tears.

"I am sorry, that was wrong of me. I felt angry and jealous of him suddenly coming back into our lives like a spectre of a past I would rather forget"

"Jealous? Erik he is lying half dead at this very moment. I am here with you and the children. You have nothing to be jealous of" Her voice is angry and her blue eyes sparkle with temper. Even Erik had learn to have wary respect for this pretty petite woman's rare bouts of temper.

"Forgive me, please" He bows his head in shame.

She stands up and walks from the room. "Just leave me alone for a while would you. I need to think"

He begins to go after her but stops himself. He leans looking out of the window at his huge amusement park, at the thousands of visitors spending their money making him a wealthy man. "Damn you de Chagney"

Christine hands Suzette to her nanny and walks from the apartment into the fresh air to clear her head. She walks along the boardwalk looking at the vast array of stalls and amusement arcades. The whirl of fair ground music surrounds her and she moves away from the bustle of the crowd. She leans on the railings and listens to the waves crashing against the shingle below.

The waves rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean seem to whisper her name as they roll up the beach. "Christine, Christine, Christine" She thinks of poor Raoul lying surrounded by some shadowy figure of a woman intent on hurting him for her own devious ends the purpose of which Christine could not even begin to guess at this time. She decides that even though it will doubtless cause a scene with Erik she must once again travel to France to see him. To her this telegram was some kind of a cry for help and despite how their marriage had ended she intended to do what she could in honour of the memory of her childhood sweetheart and play fellow.

**The De Chagney Estate, Paris, France**

Meg empties the last drops of poison from the phial the Shade had given her two months before. This last dose should be enough for him to die in his sleep tonight. He had been good to his word and had altered the will naming her Baroness de Barbezac upon his death. She stirs the poison into Raoul's evening cocoa and carries the cup upstairs to the bedroom.

So far her plan had gone without a fault but the past few days she felt something wasn't right and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Since they had been together Raoul had confided his feelings to her at all times and kept no secrets and yet the past few days he had locked himself into his bedroom with Michele the butler and then sometime later the elderly servant had left and taken a carriage to the telegram office. She had casually asked Raoul what was going on just to be given a cryptic answer of "Salvation from hell"

She sneered to herself. His mind was probably going now on top of everything else. It was a good thing she had her little doggy to satisfy her considerable appetites and also the little servant girl Estelle had proven most skilful indeed. She had already decided to keep her on when she inherited the chateau she was a good servant during the day and could also amuse her at night. She smirks to herself at the thought of what her strict mother would think of her now.

She opens the door into Raoul's bedroom. He is sat up in bed looking alarmingly well for someone she had been slowly poisoning for the past few months. She feels a flash of fury that she hides behind a fake smile. "Oh, darling Raoul you look a lot better today"

He smiles weakly. "Yes I feel a little better thank you" He watches her approach his bed and imagines putting her hands around her throat. The thought that she was slowly poisoning him had come to him a few days ago while he was reading a book about the infamous Italian murderess Lucrezia Borgia who was famous for poisoning her enemies by adding substances to their food and drink. In Raoul's fevered mind the idea that his guardian angel, Meg was in fact the angel of death had taken shape and he had at once stopped eating of drinking anything she had prepared.

At night while Meg had been busying herself with the little trollop Estelle he had got his faithful butler Michele to prepare him food in secret to last him the next day. Within the space of two days he had begun to feel very slightly better and he knew then that Meg was in fact slowly killing him. He had sent a telegram to Christine to try and alert her help before it was too late.

Meg sits on the edge of his bed and smiles sweetly. She brushes a lock of brittle white hair off his forehead. He pushes her hand away angrily.

"What is it Raoul?" Meg asks worriedly.

He looks at her and tries to lift his head up off the pillow but is still too weak. "I know what you've been doing to me. How could you?"

She looks genuinely shocked. "Raoul, I don't..."

He cuts her off before she can finish. "You've been poisoning me for months you evil bitch so I suggest unless you want me to call the police you pack your things and take yourself and your little slut Estelle with you and get out of my house"

"How can you think such things of me? I have nursed you with all my heart and soul"

"Meg, you did it to get your hands on my families' lands and titles. As of tomorrow I will change my will back so you will get nothing. Goodbye"

She stands and stares down at him with sheer fury in her eyes. "You cannot treat me like this you bastard"

He gazes at her with his tired eyes. "I am the Comte de Chagney, I shall do as I see fit"

Meg bows her head. "Very well, I'm so very, very sorry"

He weakly points to the door. "Leave now and never return"

She turns towards the door and then removes the glass phial from her cleavage. She runs to the bed side in a flash and forces the bulb shaped phial into Raoul's mouth and into his throat. "Choke you bastard"

Raoul fights but is so weak still he can barely move. He feels the thick glass object blocking his wind pipe as Meg pinches his nose shut. His brain screams out for air urging him to fight for his life. His hands beat against her uselessly as she pushes down on him with rage. His vision fades and the sound of blood rushing in his ears drowns out everything else.

Meg feels his struggling end and waits a few moments as his breathing stops. She withdraws the phial from his throat and folds his lifeless arms across his sunken chest. "Comte de Chagney indeed...Why should I care I'm a Baroness now" She splashes some water on her eyes to look like tears and then runs from the room. "The Comte is dead, help someone help"

**Coney Island, New York**

Several days after receiving the telegram Christine is putting the final touches to her travel plans to return once again to France to help Raoul overcome his most sinister turn of fortune at the hand of this mysterious woman he suspects of doing him harm. She is disturbed from he r thoughts by Erik walking carrying another envelope from the Paris telegraph office. She looks at the in horror as a ball of fear builds in her stomach.

She takes the envelope with trembling hands and tears it open. She pulls out the flimsy piece of paper within and studies it intently. She stands frozen for a moment and then her eyes roll back in her head and she faints. Erik dashes forward and catches her before she hits the floor. He carries her to the bed and lays her down gently. He snatches the telegram up and reads.

Madame de Chagney

Regret to inform you of death of Le Comte

Suspicions exist over death

Cannot say more at this time

The Baroness watches us all closely

The telegram was sent by a man calling himself Michele that Erik assumed is a family friend or a member of the household staff loyal to the Chagney family. He sits beside Christine and waits for her to return to consciousness. His mind kept running over the contents of the telegram. Who was this Baroness it mentioned. He was aware that Raoul's mother had come from a family called de Barbezac who had held a wealthy Barony in the south of France near Monte Carlo. He was unaware if a Baron or in fact Baroness de Barbezac actually still lived but when the Chagney and Barbezac families had joined it had apparently been the social event of 1852. Perhaps a member of the family had travelled up to oversee Raoul's affairs during his illness.

Christine slowly regains her senses and sits up in bed. She looks at Erik and her tears begin to fall as she catches sight of the telegram again. He holds her tightly whispering words of comfort trying to ease her sadness despite the feeling of jealousy he could not help feeling in the back of his mind. He was being childish and he knew it. For god sake despite how much he disliked Raoul he never truly wished death up on the boy and to die like this was certainly not a pleasant way to go.

Christine eventually pulls away from him and wipes her eyes. "I let him down, Erik"

"No, Christine you did not. You only received the first telegram two days ago. Even if you had set off on that day you would have only been halfway across the Atlantic when Raoul passed away"

"No, Erik, I betrayed him and let him go back to France alone into the arms of a black hearted murderess" She begins to cry again.

"You did what your heart told you to do and what is done is done. If you had not stayed we would not have Suzette now and I trust you don't regret that"

Christine crosses to the cradle and picks Suzette up into her arms. "Never, Erik, Suzette has been a blessing. Of course I don't regret being here but I can't help feeling guilty under the circumstances"

He nods and agrees that he understands how she feels. "So I suppose you must return and settle Raoul's affairs. In the eyes of French law you are still Madame de Chagney"

Christine nods. "I'm sorry, Erik. If you do not wish to come I quite understand"

"Do you really think I would let you face a nightmare like this alone?" He smiles and looks into her eyes tenderly.

"Thank you my love, I knew you would not let me down" She hands Suzette to him and commences the hurried job of packing.

Erik gazes down at his little daughter who looks back up at him with adoring eyes. He kisses her forehead gently. She reaches out and touches his masked face and smiles. "Your first trip to Paris, Are you excited?" She giggles back at him.

**The De Chagney Estate, Paris, France – One week later**

Meg sits admiring her reflection in her dressing table mirror. Estelle stands behind her brushing her hair. "I must compliment you on your new look Madame" She says shyly.

"Yes I think it rather suits me" Meg gazes at her new head of thick black hair. Her face is heavily made up with white face powder and her lips are a dark red colour. Her bright green eyes are surrounded by heavy black eye liner and mascara. She is dressed from head to foot in black with a velvet choker at her throat. "I'm rather glad you like it too my dear"

Estelle finishes brushing her hair and places a black lace veil over Meg's head. "Will there be anything else Madame?"

Meg looks her up and down with a smirk and winks at her. "Not just now dear, I will summon you later...when I have need of you again"

Estelle curtsies and nods. "As you say Mistress" She leaves the room glancing back at her with a smile before closing the door.

Meg spends another few moments admiring herself when she suddenly senses a familiar presence at the window. She turns to see the Shade staring at her with barely hidden jealousy.

"If you are not careful I might start to feel a little jealous of the girl" He says icily

She stands and goes to him placing a hand upon his cheek. "Don't be like that doggy, you know that my interests have always been...extensive. Besides I find her amusing and stimulating and I've been left to my own devices while you've been busy"

"Busy you say? Busy on an errand you sent me on" He growls angrily.

"And you shall be rewarded my sweet as you always are. So what did you discover for me?"

"It is as we suspected. Michele the Butler has sent two telegrams to America. One was sent just before Monsieur Le Comte died, and the other was sent a day after. It appears they were sent to Madame de Chagney"

Meg's lips curl into a furious sneer. She digs her talon like nails into his face drawing blood. "How dare you bring me this kind of news"

He lifts his hand casually to his face and wipes the blood away. "Temper, temper my little Vixen. If they come here I will deal with them. As for Michele his disloyalty will be dealt with severely"

She sits sulkily in a large leather chair. "Everything is going as I planned and I will not allow anything or anyone to destroy all my hard work"

The Shade kneels before her. "Don't you mean our hard work?"

She slaps him hard across his cheek. "I know what I mean and never presume to correct me again"

The Shade stands angrily. "I grow weary of your games, Meg. I am not merely your toy to play with as you see fit and then discard like a petulant child on a whim. I want some reward"

She pouts at him and takes his hand kissing it gently. "I've upset my little doggy haven't I? What would you like as a reward?"

He pulls his hand away and stares down at her coldly for a few moments before a smile like winter chill crosses his face. "Tell me more about your little servant girl"

Erik, Christine and the two children leave the main train station in Paris into the busy street. Erik hails a Brougham cab and helps Christine and the children inside. She clutches Suzette wrapped in a fur blanket. Erik instructs the driver to make his way to the Chagney estate set in the rolling countryside around Versailles.

The journey passes fairly uneventfully and Christine sits in virtual silence staring out of the window lost in her thoughts. Erik sits and amuses Gustave with little magic tricks using a few coins. He claps his hands in delight when his father produces the coin from behind his ear. "Oh Mama did you see?"

Christine turns and looks. "Yes dear, very nice" She turns back to her gazing at the countryside passing by the window.

Erik looks at her and smiles at Gustave who looks disappointed by her dismissal of him. The gates of the Chagney estate appear ahead. As the carriage passes through Erik feels an uncomfortable chill run down his spine.

The Brougham pulls up the drive and approaches the main chateau and rolls to a stand still on the gravel drive before the large front door. The doors open and Michele the butler hurries down the steps to open the carriage doors and helps Christine out. "Madame de Chagney it does my heart good to see you"

Christine smiles at him with genuine fondness. He looks at Erik and his face pales. "It's alright Michele this is Erik"

The butler nods and is about to say something else when a woman appears on the steps. She is small and petite. She is dressed in black from head to foot and a lace veil hides her face. She stalks down the steps like a cat and walks towards Christine and Erik. "Madame de Chagney, welcome to my home"

Christine looks stunned at this strange woman. "Your home? I don't understand, who are you?"

The veiled woman laughs. "I am the Baroness de Barbezac" She lifts her veil to reveal her heavily made up face. At first Christine does not react but suddenly her hand flies to her mouth in utter horror.

"Meg!"

"A nice surprise for you no doubt my dear Christine" Meg smiles coldly at her and turns to Erik who is holding Suzette. "And you, my love, how have you been?"

"I am well. Why are you here?" He straightens stiffly glaring at her.

Meg catches sight of Suzette wrapped in her little fur blanket. "What is that?" Her face twists into rage.

Erik steps back with Suzette cradling her close. "This is Suzette; she is mine and Christine's daughter"

Meg's hands grip her stomach over her empty womb. She lets out a shriek of rage and runs back up the steps into the chateau. "Not a baby, why must Christine have everything?" She runs through the hallway and up the grand staircase to her apartments leaving Erik and Christine staring at each other on the steps.

"So Meg was the woman Raoul mentioned in his telegram" Christine looks horrified. "I can't believe she would do such a thing"

"And yet the evidence would lead us to that conclusion, but perhaps we are wrong"

Christine bites her lip. "Wait here with Gustave and Suzette and I will talk to her"

Erik nods. "Please be careful"

She smiles and kisses his masked cheek. "I will my darling"

Meanwhile Meg flounces into her bedroom in a furious rage. The shade is laying on the bed eating grapes. Estelle is huddled next to him naked and bruised. She is shivering with fear and stares at Meg with pleading eyes.

"You utter bastard, look what you've done" She rushes over to Estelle and puts a sheet around her. "I told you not to play roughly with her and now look" She helps poor Estelle hobble into the bathroom to clean up.

The Shade laughs and spits a grape seed into an empty champagne glass by the bed. "Yes I didn't find her as enjoyable as I thought I would. Most disappointing"

Meg runs over to the bed and pulls a dagger from her corset holding it to his throat. "I should kill you for that"

He places his throat against the blade and turns his cold gray eyes to her. "Do it"

She sneers and lowers the blade. "We have no time to argue. Christine and Erik are here with their brats"

He leaps up getting dressed and putting on his hooded cloak. "Then we are going to kill them?"

"Don't be a fool, there is a house full of servants" She walks up and down trying to think of a way to deal with this situation. She leans on the mantelpiece staring at her reflection when she hears a knock on the door.

"Meg, its Christine can I come in?"

Meg hisses to the Shade to conceal himself out of sight. She then opens the door and lets Christine into the room.

Christine gazes around at what once had been her suite of rooms. Meg and Estelle's stockings and other undergarments are scattered about the place and numerous empty champagne bottles. "I just needed to talk to you Meg that is all"

"So talk" Meg tries to sound casual and indifferent whilst inside she is seething with rage.

Christine sits down nervously moving a red and black corset and suspender belt off the chair first. " I was wondering what exactly is going on Meg, I confess I'm very confused"

Meg smirks and sits opposite her picking a bright red apple from the fruit bowl and taking a bite. "Well let me explain exactly what is going on" She looks towards a curtained alcove. "Here doggy" She snaps her fingers. The curtains part and the Shade steps out smiling coldly, he looks at Christine.

"Hello, Christine, do you still wake at night dreaming of my lovers touch?"

The sudden appearance of the man who has haunted her nightmares since their encounter the last time she was in Paris sends her into a state of utter confusion and shock. This was the last place she had expected to see him. "Meg, look out that man is dangerous" Christine puts herself between Meg and the Shade.

Meg sneers to herself at Christine's continued ignorance at her involvement in her rape. She walks past Christine towards the Shade.

Christine tries to stop her. "Meg, please he will hurt you"

Meg shrugs her off and places a long lingering kiss on the Shades pale lips. "This is my faithful doggy, Christine who I believe you've met before"

Christine's confused mind is in a spin as she stares at Meg and the Shade. The man in the hooded black cloak takes a step towards her and she feels a scream rising in her throat out of sheer terror. The scream echoes through the house. Erik hears it standing on the front porch. He hands Suzette to Gustave telling him to wait there until he returns.

Erik runs up the stairs following Christine's screams. He bursts into the room to see her in the grip of the Shade. He has no idea who this hooded man is but sees that he is evidently terrifying Christine. The Shade drops her and draws his knife as he sees the black shape of Erik approaching.

Erik smashes into the Shade sending them both sprawling onto the floor knocking furniture flying in all directions. Meg snarls with pleasure watching the two men wrestling violently. Estelle walks out of the bathroom dressed. She is now a carbon copy of Meg in dress style and make up utterly besotted by her mistress. She squeals at the fight before her and runs to hide behind Meg who puts her arm about her protectively.

Erik fights like a demon against the Shade but is surprised by his opponent's strength. He smashes his head against the floor over and over until he feels the Shade go limp. Meg screams in fury and pulls Estelle by the hand.

"You're both dead, Christine and you'll never get anything" She picks up a lighted oil lamp and hurls it across the room setting fire to the bed which goes up like an explosion of flame. She drags Estelle from the room as the inferno spreads. Erik staggers to his feet and grabs Christine pulling her towards the window. They can see Gustave holding Suzette at the front door looking up at them in fear.

Suddenly Meg and Estelle burst from the front door sending Gustave spinning. He loses his grip on Suzette and she falls to the ground with a sickening thud and lays still. Christine screams in horror. The two women in black jump into the Brougham carriage and it speeds away from the Chateau and vanishes from sight. Erik turns towards the fire looking for an escape and sees the Shade has vanished.

Christine is staring down at the driveway at the little crumpled bundle. "My baby, they've hurt my baby"

Erik rushes to the bathroom and soaks his cloak in water before returning and wrapping the dripping garment around both his and Christine's head and shoulders. He dashes towards the wall of flames and after a moment of intense heat and smoke they are in safety in the hallway.

Christine throws the cloak to one side and runs in tears down the hallway and the grand staircase to the front porch. Gustave is sat in tears next to the broken little bundle lying on the steps. "I'm so sorry Mama the ladies knocked her out of my hands. I tried to save her but I wasn't quick enough"

Christine picks up her little broken bundle. "Suzette, darling it's Mama, I'm here" She cradles her to her chest. Suzette is utterly motionless. Christine's tears flow across her little daughter's lifeless face. "Please, someone help me" Erik rushes out of the front door and sees Christine's grief which tells him everything he had to know. He lets out a cry of rage and grief sliding down the wall, flinging his mask to one side.

He stares at his broken family and suddenly he remembers something he saw done many years before with an injured child in Persia. He crawls forward and gently takes Suzette's body from Christine. He lays her on the ground and using two fingers only he begins to pump her little chest. "Come on angel, breath for Papa" He continues as Christine looks on in a mixture of grief and confusion at Erik's actions.

Erik is beginning to give up hope when suddenly Suzette takes a huge gasp of air and begins to wail. Erik quickly hands her to Christine who hugs her kissing her little face over and over again. He collapses against the wall in relief and covers his face. Gustave picks up his mask and hands it to him. "Here Papa" Erik takes the mask and hugs Gustave to him.

The fire in the bedroom begins to hungrily consume the chateau that had stood for 200 years. The spiteful act of one vengeful girl was all it took to wipe out all the history of one of France's oldest families. Erik, Christine and their children stand on the lawn surrounded by the servants as the building crumbles to ruins of burnt stone and charred wood. Heirlooms and antiques, books and family histories all consigned to a fiery grave.

"Raoul would have been devastated if he had seen this" She wipes her eyes sadly. "How could Meg hate me so much?"

"I think she was always a little jealous of you, Christine" Erik puts his arm around her.

"What do you mean, Erik?" She replies looking shocked. "I see that she feels I've taken away her life she had planned with you on Coney Island, but why was she jealous before that?"

"Did you know that Madame Giry secretly ran my errands for me and kept me informed of happenings in the Opera all those years ago?"

Christine turns in shock. "I knew she used to deliver notes you would leave in box 5 but I thought that was the extent of it"

"No. I realised I needed someone to help me lead my somewhat eccentric life back then. It's not easy to live underground and still keep up impeccable standards. I needed someone to run my errands, fetch and carry and acquire shopping and other provisions for me" He sighs and continues. "Madame Giry was a Prima Ballerina then, married to her husband Jules who worked in the Opera stables. Meg was a very difficult birth for poor Antoinette. She was such a small petite girl and the birth damaged her. She had to give up dancing and also around this time Jules died. He got into an argument over a gambling debt and was murdered"

Christine gasps. "I lived with Meg and Madame Giry for years after Papa Daae passed away but I never knew any of this"

"It looked as though Madame Giry and little baby Meg were going to be utterly destitute. Behind the scenes I arranged for her to become the ballet mistress and when I revealed myself to her as her guardian angel she swore she would do whatever she could do to repay the debt of gratitude. She became my accomplice and for many years it worked very well. It was purely a business arrangement you understand with no impropriety whatsoever"

"I see, I can't understand how I never even knew about this. Meg and I were like sisters"

"I always viewed Meg as a little niece almost and I used to spoil her a great deal. When you came to live with them I saw your potential to be a great singer and I asked Madame Giry for permission to teach you. She refused and stated you were to be a dancer like Meg. I didn't know at the time but Meg became extremely jealous that I had chosen you over her but you must believe I meant no harm by it"

Christine looks shocked. "So what happened next, Erik?"

"I abided by Madame Giry's request but around the time of your sixteenth birthday I saw you singing alone on stage when you thought the theatre was empty and your voice stole my heart. I fell in love with you at that exact second. Of course I never hoped to be a true husband or lover to you but I wanted to be part of your life. I had heard you talk to Meg about the legend of the angel of music so I decided it was high time your papa's dying promise was granted. I arranged, through a lot of hard work, for you to be moved into a dressing room set apart from the others that had hollow bricks in the wall and a mirror that concealed a secret tunnel used during the Commune to take prisoners to the dungeons in the Opera cellars"

He continues. "Once I had you in the dressing room it was just a case of plucking up the courage to actually talk to you. You have no idea how frightened I was. A sixteen year old girl who I was so deeply in love with but who had the power to crush my heart in a second if she chose to. One night I recall you crying at your dressing table talking to your papa's spirit. Do you remember?"

Christine nods yes I remember. "Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing, her father promised her he would send her the angel of music. He promised her that when I am in heaven child, I will send the angel of music to you"

Erik nods. "Yes and I knew my time had come. I began to sing softly behind the mirror. I can still see the look of confusion on your face as you hunted around the room and the corridor outside for the owner of the voice"

"I had never heard such a voice before, Erik. It captivated me and when it spoke to me I thought I should faint with joy" Christine's eyes glisten with tears at the memory.

Erik smiles down at her lovingly. "Those months were among the happiest days of my life and I still treasure them even now. When Antoinette found out I had gone against her she was furious. She threatened to expose me to the world but I pleaded with her to let me continue teaching you and she eventually agreed on the condition I would always look after Meg too, which I have always tried to do. What I didn't realise was that Meg's feelings towards me had developed from an adoring niece to an infatuated child to a dangerously obsessive love" He sighs. "Obviously after everything went horribly wrong, Meg saw this as her chance to have what she wanted but unfortunately I was still in love with you"

Christine leans her head on Erik's chest and watches the burning house sadly. So much jealousy and rage in Meg that she had never known existed. She felt her entire childhood friendship was now somehow an utter sham. "Oh Erik, I'm frightened, what will she do next?"

He strokes her hair lovingly. "I don't know my love, I just don't know"

The Shade sits opposite Meg and Estelle in the carriage as it races towards Paris away from the Chagny estate. He coughs from the smoke he inhaled and glares at Meg with his wintery eyes. "I suppose I should thank you for waiting should I?"

Meg laughs. "Yes you should be glad. What use are you to me, bested by Erik as easily as that?"

The Shade growls and looks about to reply but begins coughing again and just looks out of the window instead. Estelle yawns and rests her head on Meg's lap. Meg strokes her black hair gently. "Is my little kitty tired?"

Estelle nods and pouts sulkily. "Yes and now Christine has taken our lovely house away making you burn it down. What shall we do?"

Meg smiles to herself. "I think we shall go to America and see my Mother. We can be waiting for Christine to come back can't we?"

Estelle smiles up at her. "I've never been to America"

"I'm sure you will like it darling"

Estelle nods then frowns. "I liked our nice house more. I hate Christine so much"

"Tell me how much you hate her" Meg's face curls into a sneer.

"I want to kill her"

Meg smiles and kisses her softly. "And so you shall my little kitty, so you shall"

Christine and Erik remain in Paris for a few more days after the fire where she uses the time to visit the cemetery where the Chagny family crypt is situated. Erik remains sat in the carriage allowing her some moments of privacy with her former husband's spirit. The graveyard here is far grander than the simple churchyard at Perros where her father is laid to rest by the sea.

The Chagney tomb is quite an impressive structure, a testament to the families' former wealth and stature. Christine approaches the building carrying a simple bunch of flowers. She enters through the doors that the graveyard keeper had unlocked in preparation for her visit.

The inside of the tomb is dark lit only by four large black mourning candles that stand around Raoul's coffin which is on a raised Dias in the centre of the chamber. She crosses to the coffin which has been sealed and rests her hand on the expensive wood. "Oh I'm so very sorry Raoul" She walks around the coffin and struggles to equate this cold dark place with the handsome young boy in his brother's box at the Opera all those years ago.

Her thoughts drift to her Father and her feelings at his death. She knew that losing him had almost been the undoing of her and that in many ways it had been Erik that had pulled her back from the abyss giving her hope that her Father's spirit was still with her. She thought of her lovely children and she knew in her heart that Gustave named in honour of her father was truly filled with her dear Papa Daae's spirit. He was the very best of her and Erik and in many ways reminded her of her Fathers kind and gentle spirit.

She sits deep in thought for many minutes thinking of the past. Her days at the Opera and of her marriage to Raoul which had started so well it seemed. Where had it all gone so terribly wrong? She thought of Erik's revelations about Madame Giry and Meg and wondered how she could have been so naive and blind. Would that knowledge have made any difference to her she was unsure. She loved Erik with all her heart and soul and she doubted she would have been able to sacrifice that love even for Meg who at the time had been her dearest friend, in fact virtually a sister.

She stands slowly and reaches inside her dress pulling out a plain gold wedding ring. She presses it to her lips with tears in her eyes and lays it up on the coffin lid gently next to her flowers. "Good bye my dear childhood play fellow, lover and husband" She leaves the tomb without looking back with tears streaming from her eyes and makes her way back through the cemetery to where Erik is waiting playing with Gustave and cradling Suzette. He looks at her sad eyes.

"Are you alright my dear?"

She smiles and squeezes his had before taking Suzette from him. "Yes, let's go home"

"I love you Christine"

She leans forward and kisses him lovingly but gently. "I love you too my strange angel"

The carriage moves away into the afternoon light. The graveyard keeper secures the Chagny tomb locking the heavy doors. An orange leaf suddenly flutters down from the trees above. He bends and picks it up studying it with a sigh. "Winter is coming"

**Chapter 4 – Strange Angel**

**The SS Brittany, the Atlantic Ocean – 1892**

Christine lies in bed in the luxurious cabin she is sharing with Erik and her two children. She gazes at the clock. 11 o'clock at night and she was struggling to sleep. Erik had fallen asleep very quickly for a change stating that the sea air made him drowsy and the children had been in bed for hours. She slips silently out of bed and goes into the sitting room where she sits down on the chaise and takes out her locket.

The picture inside is old and faded but still a comforting reminder of her father's smiling face. She thinks back to her childhood spent walking the highways and byways of France and Sweden visiting the small country fairs and carnivals. Her father would play his violin as she would sing. They made a charming pair for the crowds and made a good living. She thought fondly of Maria, the gypsy girl that had taken it upon herself to act as her surrogate mother looking after both her and Papa Daae for many years until she had died of a fever. She recalled her father's sadness after this and he had seemed to lose a lot of his lust for life.

Maria had been buried in a little churchyard at Perros in Brittany and her father had made it known that when his time came he too would like to be laid there too next to his little gypsy girl. Every night Papa Daae told little Christine a story about the angel of music and she recalled with particular fondness the story of Little Lotte.

"Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing, she had hair as bright as the sun's rays and her soul was as clear and blue as her eyes. She wheedled her mother, was kind to her doll and took great care of her frock and her little red shoes, but what she loved best was, when she went to sleep, to hear the Angel of Music singing to her"

Christine smiles at the memory of his voice telling that tale. He had become the very centre of her world and he had arranged for her to be auditioned for the conservatoire de musique in Paris where he had hoped her voice would be properly trained and coached allowing his dear little child a chance of a career at the Nationale Academie de Musique at the Opera Garnier where he was well known for his wonderful violin playing.

Christine had started well taking to her lessons like a natural talent however Papa Daae had taken sick and died soon after. Upon his death bed he held her close promising her that when he was in heaven he would send her the Angel of Music. Christine's world had literally fallen apart without him. Her father's friend Antoinette Giry had overseen the funeral arrangements and Christine had insisted her Papa was laid next to Maria at Perros. Christine was taken in by Madame Giry to the tiny apartment they now occupied at the Garnier. Madame Giry's husband had been killed in a fight several years earlier and just as it seemed she would be turned out on the streets a mysterious patron had arranged for her to take the role of Ballet Mistress and a small room in the staff quarters of the vast Opera house was made available.

Christine had become firm friends with Madame Giry's daughter Meg. She was a friendly girl but perhaps a little clingy and jealous at times but their friendship had flourished to a point where they were more like sisters. Meg was in the corps de ballet and would take Christine along to her lessons. She showed a natural aptitude for dance and with Madame Giry's guidance Christine was soon accepted into the corps herself. Meg was delighted and they often practised together. Sharing stories and playing pranks on the stagehands and other ballet girls.

It was around this time that Christine first heard the legend of the Opera Ghost or The Phantom as Joseph Bouquet the chief scene shifter called him. OG had been a whispered rumour in the vast theatre since it had first opened and theatre people being very superstitious soon began to blame everything on this mischievous spectre. If a door slammed, a glass broke or a sheet of music went missing it was blamed on the shadowy figure of the Phantom of the Opera.

Great debate raged about what this ghost looked like and the most common held belief which came from a description given by Bouquet who claimed he had actually seen the ghost one morning in the area just beneath the stage. He claimed that he was dressed in a fine dress suit of tails and a top hat and wrapped in a huge black cloak. As another stagehand pointed out at the time there was hardly anything ghostly or unusual about a man in dress clothes in an opera house but Bouquet had silenced him when he described the frightening apparition.

"He is extraordinarily tall and thin, his dress coat hangs from his skeletal frame. His skin is not white like yours or mine but a dirty yellow colour like old parchment. His eyes are sunk so deep into his head you can barely see the fixed pupils which glitter like glowing coals. His nose is just a black hole like in a dead man's skull. He is truly terrible to behold"

Bouquet had given that description to the frightened ballet girls who had squealed in terrified delight at the macabre tale. Christine noticed Madame Giry and Meg exchange glances as Bouquet walked away laughing to himself but she thought nothing of it. Meg and Christine often used to spend the time when they were not dancing or rehearsing exploring the vast theatre.

One day they were passing an open door way that lead down to the cellars. Christine shivered at the cold air that drifted up from the black chasm. "I have never been down below, Meg" She said feeling drawn towards the open doorway.

"No mama won't allow me to go down there; she says it's very dangerous"

"Dangerous, Why?" Christine replied resting her hand on the door frame. "I have heard curious tales of the world beneath the theatre"

Meg pulled her away from the door. "You are such a silly sometimes, Christine"

Suddenly a figure burst from the darkness causing both girls to shriek in terror. The figure collapsed in breathless fright at their feet. They recognised the face of young Pampin, one of the Fire Wardens. He looked up at them with wide frightened eyes. "It's the Opera Ghost" He then passed out in fright.

The girls stayed with poor Pampin until he came round. He explained that he had been making a routine fire safety inspection in the cellars and he had wandered deeper than normal down as far as the banks of the lake. He had had a look around and had just turned around to return to the surface when he had seen coming towards him in the darkness a head made of fire. He had fled in terror as the demonic apparition had come towards him shrieking in the dark. He stated he had flung his dark lantern down in horror and run in blind panic until he had found his way back to the surface.

Christine and Meg listened in shock at this description of this fiery head with no body and assumed that this must be down to the Opera Ghost. Pampin had agreed and stated he needed to report this to the managers, Messieurs Debienne and Poligny, at once. Christine and Meg had helped him to his feet and went with him to the manager's office in the corps del administratione on the other side of the building. As they walked away a thin bony hand reached from the darkness of the open door and quietly pulled the handle shut.

**One Month later**

Christine scratches her head in confusion looking at Madame Giry. "I don't understand why I'm getting my own dressing room, I'm nobody"

The ballet mistress smiles coldly. "You have done well and the managers have decided that you are to be promoted to the leader of a dance line and as such you will get your own dressing room"

Christine looks amazed and then frowns. "But wait I will be away from Meg and the other girls"

"Yes, you will, I'm sorry but this instruction has come direct from Monsieur Debienne and so make the most of it and enjoy the privacy my child" Madame Giry takes her leave closing the door behind her.

Christine sits down at her dressing table with her little bag of meagre personal effects. She places her father's photograph on the table in front of her and sighs loudly. "I miss you so much Papa" She rests her head on her hands and weeps quietly. She is suddenly aware of a faint singing in her ears. She lifts her head looking about her. The voice is soft and sweet yet it is unmistakably masculine and strangely commanding for all its softness.

She gets to her feet and opens the dressing room door and looking in the corridor for the source of the voice thinking it was perhaps another artiste warming up or practicing close by. The corridor is silent but for the hiss of the gas lamp on the wall casting its eerie red glow across the darkness. She walks back into the room and to her surprise the voice can still be clearly heard.

"When I am in heaven my child I will send the angel of music to you" The voice is so soft that she thinks she is mistaken but the phrase is repeated and to her surprise it sounds as if it is coming from her father's photograph. She crosses to the dressing table and picks up the guilt framed image clutching it to her chest with tears in her eyes. The lights in the room suddenly dim as if someone had closed the gas supply down and another voice speaks. This voice is strong and masterful yet somehow sad.

"Christine...Christine Daae!"

She looks about her for the source of this hypnotic voice. "I am here" She replies

"Be not afraid my child, for I am the Angel of Music sent unto you from your father's loving arms in heaven in honour of his promise to you"

Christine's breath catches in her throat and she sinks to her knees in prayer. "Can this truly be real?"

"It is very real Christine. You have a naturally good singing voice but it lacks discipline and training. You are a good singer but your destiny is to be a great singer. I can do this for you"

She stands and crosses to the large mirror where the voice seems to be and she lays her face against the cold glass. "Teach me angel, I will do anything you ask, I swear"

"This will not be an easy task child and there will be much hard work and tears before we are done"

Christine nods her breath misting the icy cold glass. "Nothing worth having comes without a price angel"

The Angel laughs at these words. "That is a true saying my child. Nothing in life comes without pain and sacrifice. It is the way of things nothing more and nothing less"

"I will sacrifice anything to you master" Her voice has an edge of desperation to it.

"Together, Christine Daae, we will give unto men a little of the music of the heavens"

She sinks to her knees before the mirror tears streaming down her face with joy. "I have waited for so long to hear you and now you are here"

"There will be rules child that must be strictly followed by you without exception. Do you agree to abide by my conditions?"

She nods her head vigorously. "Yes, yes anything you ask of me, Angel"

"Good. I will watch over you constantly child but you will only hear my voice here or in your dormitory. You must devote yourself to your art and shun all earthly pleasures until such time as I say otherwise, and you must tell no one of us"

"I will do as you say, Angel. I promise to you"

"We will meet here in your dressing room every morning at 8 o'clock sharp. Do not be late. Is that clear?"

She nods still pressing her face to the glass. "I will be hear master"

The voice begins to sing again and gradually fades away to nothing and the gaslight brightens once more. Christine slides down the mirror to the floor clutching her father's photograph and stares into space with a look of utter joy on her face.

The weeks fly by for Christine in a blur of activity. She attends her lesson with her angel every morning while the theatre is deserted and spends the remainder of her time practicing her ballet steps under the critical gaze of Madame Giry. As the weeks pass her voice becomes stronger through using the correct breathing and soon she is barely able to recognise herself.

One night she is lying awake in the small dormitory room she shares with young Meg. She looks over at her friend who is snoring lightly twitching in the throes of a dream of some sort. "Angel, are you here?" She listens eagerly for a response.

"I am here child" The voice seems to be hovering directly above her bed.

"I cannot sleep tonight; I have things on my mind"

"What kind of things my child?"

"Madame Carlotta was horrible to me today" Christine recalls the Italian Soprano's vicious words to her during the rehearsal for Charlemau's Hannibal earlier that day. Christine had been tired from her weeks of endless work and had got her mark wrong on the stage and had unfortunately got in Carlotta's way as she made her big entrance. Christine had apologised but the Diva had gone to town on her with her vicious acid edged tongue which had made Christine flee in tears. Meg had come after her and brought her back and the rehearsal had carried on, however Christine could not help but notice the looks of pure venom Carlotta shot her from time to time and she knew she had made a nasty enemy.

"Carlotta sings like a squirt, Christine. You have more talent in your little finger than she has in her entire body" The Angel says, his voice is soothing and calms her.

"I think she hates me now, Angel. What am I to do? I won't last very long now I've upset La Carlotta. Even Debienne and Poligny are frightened of her and they own the Opera"

"Do not fret my child. There are many changes coming to this theatre. Debienne and Poligny are retiring and the two new managers, Firmin and Andre are two very different creatures"

Christine sits up in bed. "How do you know this, angel?"

His voice laughs lightly. "I know everything that happens within the walls of this opera house and fear not child. Carlotta will not bother you again...I promise you"

"Oh, thank you, Angel. What else do you know about these new managers?"

"They have a new patron for the Opera" He replies quietly.

"Who is it, do you know their name, master?"

"He is the young Vicomte de Chagny"

Christine's breath catches in her throat at this name but she does not show any sign of her excitement in front of her teacher. "Oh, I think I have heard of him"

"Sleep now, Christine. I have the strangest feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very big day for you"

"What do you mean, master?"

"Wait and see, child. Tomorrow you will astound all of Paris"

She kneels up in bed wanting to ask what he means but she can sense he is gone. She lies down in bed and slowly drifts off to sleep. In the bunk beside her Meg's eyes flicker open and she turns her head slowly to look at Christine's sleeping form. She bites her lip slightly and rolls onto her side sulkily.

The next day for Christine seemed like a dream. She attended the rehearsal for Hannibal during which a backdrop and heavy sandbag had fallen from the flies almost hitting Carlotta who in typical fashion has thrown the most colossal tantrum and stormed out along with Senor Piangi right in front of the new managers Messieurs Firmin and Andre who had stood dumbfounded by this display of temper from the Italian soprano. Firmin, obviously the money man of the two hand thrown up his arms in horror at the thought of refunding a full house.

Meg stands watching the whole situation and almost as if she was not in control of her own mind she steps forward. "Christine Daae can sing it, sir" How many times since that fateful phrase escaped her lips had Meg questioned why she did it. A moment she was to come to regret deeply over the following years though of course at this time she did not realise that. The two new managers turn and stare at her.

"What, the chorus girl?" The two men glare at Meg.

Madame Giry steps forward deflecting their attention from her beloved daughter. "Let her sing for you. She has been well taught"

The two managers debate this for a moment and then nod with resignation. Christine steps forward timidly and the Maestro Monsieur Reyer begins the introduction to Elisa's aria and counts Christine in. She sings shyly and looks as though she would rather melt into the stage than be here. Firmin and Andre exchange worried looks and Firmin opens his hip flask taking a slug of cognac.

As she continues to sing her voice grows with confidence. Christine can sense her angel beside her on the stage giving her the strength to carry on with the song. She becomes aware of gasps of approval around her. Madame Giry and Meg exchange glances but say nothing. Unseen by any on the stage a dark figure stands alone in box five on the Grande tier hidden by the heavy velvet drapes. His eyes are closed in pleasure as Christine's voice washes over him. His shape is utterly indiscernible, just a cloak and a wide brimmed hat. As her song ends his eyes flicker open to gaze upon her distant figure on the stage, eyes that seem to burn like coals in the shadows.

The two managers are overjoyed at Christine's performance and she is immediately assigned to Carlotta's place and sent off to Sarah the wardrobe mistress to have her costume altered for the performance that evening. "I think we've made quite a discovery with Mamzelle Daae, Andre" Laughs Firmin obviously delighted at the thought of not refunding a full house.

The gala performance that night was beyond words for Christine and as the performance came to an end and she stood to take her bows to a standing ovation she felt her emotions get the better of her and she fainted away having to be carried from the stage by her fellow performers and laid on the chaise in her dressing room. When she came round she found herself next to the theatre doctor and a young man who looked strangely familiar. The young gentleman leans forward and presses a fevered kiss upon the young diva's hand before giving her a red rose with trembling fingers. She looks at him with bewildered eyes. "Monsieur, who are you?"

"I am the boy who ran into the sea at Perros to rescue your red scarf. I was only fourteen and utterly drenched to the skin"

Christine remembered that summer of her childhood with great fondness. She and Papa Daae had been staying in Perros so he could be near Maria's grave as he came to terms with her loss. He had bought Christine a red scarf to cheer her up and they had walked along the beach when suddenly a gust of wind had taken Christine's new scarf and blown it into the sea. She had cried out thinking it lost when the figure of a young boy had come racing down the sand plunging into the surf to retrieve it much to the anger of his stern looking governess. The boy had turned out to be Raoul, the young Vicomte de Chagny. During that brief summer he and Christine had become almost childhood sweethearts.

Christine feels her heart flutter. "Raoul, is it really you?"

He smiles."Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing..."

She takes the rose smiling widely. "Oh Raoul it has been so long"

Raoul turns to the doctor and instructs him to clear the room which he does leaving the two friends alone. "Christine, your voice tonight was like nothing I've ever heard before, what happened, who taught you?"

She smiles. "Do you recall my father telling me that one day the angel of music would visit me?"

Raoul nods. "Of course, I heard him promise you that many times"

Christine grips his hands firmly and with quite surprising strength for one so frail. "Well I have been visited by the Angel of Music, Raoul"

He laughs thinking she is merely being playful. "I have no doubt of that, Christine...And now we go to supper"

Christine looks suddenly alarmed. "No Raoul, the angel is very strict"

He laughs and stands, backing towards the door. "Well I shan't keep you up late. I will order my carriage and get my hat and cloak. Ten minutes, my Little Lotte" He leaves closing the door.

Christine stands and calls after him. "No, Raoul, things have all changed now" She goes to the door when suddenly the gaslights flicker and dim.

A familiar voice comes to her ears from the mirror. "Who is that young man?"

She turns to face the mirror. "He is just an old childhood friend"

The voice laughs scornfully. "A friend that brings you a single red rose?"

Christine feels panic rising in her throat feeling somehow guilty for the pleasure she had felt in seeing Raoul after so long. The strength of that pleasure had greatly surprised her and stirred strange feelings within her breast. "He is nothing, means nothing" She passes a weary hand over her eyes.

The voice softens. "Are you so very tired, Christine?"

She places her face against the mirror. "Tonight I offered up my soul to you and now I am dead"

The voice gasps slightly. "Your soul is a beautiful thing child and I thank you. No king or emperor ever received such an exquisite gift. You made the angels in heaven weep tonight"

"I must see you, angel" The request had left her lips almost before she was aware of it.

"Alas my child, would that I could grant you any wish upon heaven or earth you ask the one thing I cannot do" His voice sounds strangely sad.

Tears flow down her cheeks as she is overcome with feelings, with a yearning to gaze upon the countenance of her beloved angel. "Please, I beg you, I love you master"

The voice is silent for a few minutes and Christine starts to wonder if he has gone when suddenly he replies. "My flattering child, so then you will know me and then you will understand why I hide in shadow. Look into your reflection in the mirror for I am here, inside"

She turns her face to the glass and as she looks the surface appears to become slightly transparent. A dark shape can clearly be seen inside. "My angel of music" She holds her arms out in ecstasy as his voice begins to sing wrapping its tendrils around her very soul, commanding her will power to its wishes.

The mirror glides open noiselessly and a thin bony hand reaches from the darkness taking her wrist gently. Its grip is like ice and she gasps as it gently draws her forward into the darkness. The mirror closes silently behind her leaving the dressing room empty just as Raoul enters and finds his beloved Christine gone. "Christine, Angel?"He calls in desperation.

Christine stands in total darkness looking about her. As her eyes become accustomed to the darkness she sees the shape of a tall man wrapped in a huge cloak and a wide brimmed hat. A mask hides most of his face leaving only the mouth and chin visible. She gasps in alarm. "Who are you, where is the angel of music?" The figure steps forward suddenly and forces an icy hand over her mouth. She lets out a stifled scream and faints in shock. The figure catches her before she falls and gently carries her down the narrow tunnel and down a steep stone stairway.

When Christine regains conscience she finds herself laid upon the dark figures knees as he gently bathes her face with water from a natural spring that bubbled up from the stone floor close by. As her senses return so does her surprise and alarm and she shrinks back from his ice cold touch. His eyes behind the mask regard her calmly. "Do not be afraid, Christine, you are in no danger". He helps her to her feet and picks up his dark lantern. The flickering flame makes his strange eyes reflect in the dark like those of a strange nocturnal creature. In Christine's alarmed state she found the effect truly frightening. As if he senses this the figure turns away but does not release her hand.

He continues to lead her into the darkness, deeper into the damp cellars beneath the opera house. Christine follows and although she feels fear she is somehow drawn to this strange exciting adventure at the same time. A yearning flame deep in her soul was suddenly kindled and she feels alive in a way she had not since the death of her father. To her surprise she sees a magnificent white stallion tethered to an iron ring on the wall of the tunnel. The unexpected appearance of the horse in such an odd location only heightens the surreal atmosphere of the whole experience. Without warning the dark figure turns and lifts her easily onto the horses back and taking the reigns he leads it down the tunnel. "This is Caesar, Christine" She merely nods her head.

As they continue on their way she senses the air becoming damper and suddenly the tunnel opens out onto a small stone jetty. Before them the ink black waters of an underground lake stretch out into the darkness. A small boat is moored to the wharf and the figure in black silently lifts Christine from Caesar's back and carries her to the boat, gently laying her on the richly embroidered cushions within. He unties the mooring and slowly rows across the waters with a powerful stroke. Christine looks about her. She had always known that the lake existed but to find herself here in such strange eccentric company bewildered her already confused senses. Strange voices seem to rise up from the dark waters and she recoils in alarm huddling into the cushions.

As the boat nears the far shore a section of the wall rises before them to reveal a hidden section of the catacombs. The boat passes through and the wall slowly lowers behind them. Huge candelabras rise from the waters lighting the area beyond the wall and the sudden brilliance dazzles Christine for a moment. The boat comes to a halt and she feels herself lifted gently from the cushions and carried carefully to a ed velvet chaise where the dark figure in the mask sets her down and then stands back with his arms folded across his chest.

She looks around slowly taking in her surroundings. She finds herself in a room furnished with expensive antique furniture and carpeted in rich Persian rugs. Candles light the room from large candelabras and all around her are cut flowers arranged in baskets and tied with ribbons. The whole scene was made ever more bizarre by the knowledge that they were five stories below the level of the ground. Her eyes fix on the figure of the man in the mask. "Who are you, Where is the voice?" She asks with a trembling voice under his unwavering gaze.

"I am the voice, Christine" Replies the masked man.

She rises to her feet in sudden anger. "But you are a man, who are you?"

He gazes at her and suddenly looks down as if ashamed. "I am as you can see. I am not an angel, a ghost or a genius. I am Erik"

"Erik?, How could you deceive me like this?"

He drops to his knees at her feet, "Forgive me, I admit that yes, I have deceived you but I am no saint, merely a man who loves you with all his heart and soul"

"I don't understand. You carry me away in the night and imprison me here underground. You profess to love me yet hide your face in a mask. What manner of person are you, what honest man covers his face?"

He rises to his feet and takes her wrists pushing her back into the chair. "You shall never see Erik's face. You are in no danger here and in fact have no greater friend in the world than myself just so long as you do not touch the mask"

Panic begins to rise in her and almost as if he can sense this, Erik begins to sing. His voice is flawless and magical and Christine remembers that although her angel is merely a man he is after all still the voice she heard in her dressing room. The voice calms her and intoxicates her. She is slowly overcome and drifts into a deep sleep. He picks her up in his arms and carries her into a simply furnished little bedroom where he sits upon the bed holding her in his embrace relishing the weight of her in his arms. Eventually he lays her down and silently leaves the room.

Many hours later she slowly awakens. In this strange underground world she has no concept of what time of day it was. She looks about her room and becomes alarmed when she cannot find a door from the room. Her panic begins to rise again until she notices a note on the dressing table written in red ink in a faltering clumsy hand.

"My dear Christine, You are currently alone in this home, which is yours. I have gone out to buy all the pretty things you should need during your stay with me. Erik"

She crumples the note up in anger and fear. "He is insane, totally insane" Suddenly a door opens and Erik enters carrying a huge number of parcels and he smiles as he places them on the bed. Christine reigns abuse at him and pleads with him to remove his mask if he is truly an honest person. He ignores her pleas and merely replies that her lunch is ready if she would care to join him in the dining room by the lake. He leaves the room without another word and Christine almost automatically goes through her morning ritual of washing and brushing out her long red hair.

He is sat at the dining table and rises as she enters pulling her chair out for her. Her lunch is cold chicken served with a delicate salad and a light crisp wine. She notices he does not eat or drink and she says nothing to him during the meal. When she has finished he stands and walks around the table to her. "Would you care to see the rest of my home?" He asks her. She nods and he offers her his hands. She remembers their icy grip and recoils at first but upon seeing his distress in his eyes gently takes the tips of his fingers. He leads her to a door on the far side of the room. "beyond here is my own room. It is somewhat...unusual, would you care to see it?" Before she can answer he pushes the door open wide.

The sight that meets her eyes leaves Christine dumb struck with horror. In the middle of the room on a raised dais stands a black marble sarcophagus under a canopy of red brocade. Huge black mourning candles burn at the four corners of the canopy help by candelabras carved to resemble angels with skull faces. The walls of the room are painted dark blood red and murals depicting the most horrific scenes of carnage and despair stare back at Christine's horrified face. She notices the keyboard of an organ fills one wall of the chamber and in an attempt to regain her composure she asks him if he plays. He strides to the organ where a huge leather bound musical score lies open filled with notes written in red ink. "What is that?" she asks.

"That is my life's work. My magnum opus. It is Don Juan Triumphant" He runs his long elegant fingers over the manuscript adoringly as if caressing a favored lover.

She tries to win his favour and asks, "Will you play some of the piece for me, Erik?"

"Never, Christine. Don Juan is not for you. It is more than mere music. It burns my dear child, my music burns"

She is taken aback by this and looks down at her feet nervously.

"Perhaps some Bach my dear?." He sits and begins to play Bach's Toccata & Fugue becoming lost in his passionate playing. Christine watches his elegant hands moving across the keys with grace creating the soaring sounds filling the chamber with its glorious noise. She suddenly felt and uncontrollable urge to see his face, to gaze upon the visage of this strange, mysterious man whose voice had captured her soul and whose music was lifting her soul into the very heavens. With a movement that she is utterly unable to control she reaches forward and pulls the mask away.

Christine had often dreamed of the face of her angel of music. The shining radiance that would emanate from that most divine of features. All her wildest dreams and imaginings could not have prepared her for the horror that appeared before her eyes. As she tears the mask away Erik lets out a cry of grief and rage that filled her soul with ice cold terror. He turns on her hissing incoherent curses knocking the organ bench aside in fury. Christine falls back utterly unable to speak as the full monstrosity of Erik's face is made clear.

His face, if it could be called that, is a mask of living death. His yellow skin is stretched tight across the bones. His eye sockets are deep black pits of despair suspended over his sunken cheeks. His nose is merely a black hole in the center of corpse like features. His dark hair, obviously a wig, had also come away with the mask to reveal his scalp with nothing but one or two sparse black hairs covering the yellow sickly looking skin. As Christine steps back he advances on her angrily, "Look at me, look at me" He cries. She turns her head away in abject terror at the demon she has unleashed. He grabs her hair twisting her face back to him, "Feast your eyes and glut your soul on this my cursed ugliness" Christine screams and tries to push him away.

"Please, Erik, you are hurting me"

He merely laughs hysterically, "Perhaps you think I am some form of trickster and that I have yet another mask?...Perhaps in your mind you believe that this my face is just a mask too?...Well tear it off just as you did the other" He takes her delicate white hands and plunges her manicured nails into his face tearing his yellow flesh. "No!...Its real...it's real...Know that I am built upon living death and that it is a hideous corpse that loves you and adores you and will never leave you again" He throws her roughly to the ground and storms across the room knocking a table covered in musical scores aside. "I'm a very handsome fellow wouldn't you agree, Christine?...When a woman has seen me as you have she belongs to me my dear...She falls in love with me forever, I'm something of a Don Juan didn't you know" He holds his head in his hands and screams at the top of his lungs, "I am Don Juan Triumphant" He drops to his knees with huge tears streaming down his terrible face.

Christine looks down and realizes that she still holds his mask, "Oh, Erik, forgive me" She gingerly holds the mask out to him and he snatches it away.

"Look I am not laughing, but crying, crying for you, Christine. You who has seen Erik's face and who can never leave me again" He picks up his wig and stands unsteadily, "You woman are such curious creatures" He walks to the door swaying on wobbly legs and leaves her alone with her thoughts. She stares after him as her mind tries to come to terms with the situation and what she had just witnessed. She hears the sound of him playing the violin in the other room and understands that he has run to his music to block out the horror of this situation. She rises and cautiously follows the music into another room she had not seen before.

Erik's music room is stacked with musical scores and shelves of books cover every wall. A grand piano, a cello and several violins hold places of honor in the center of the room where he stands with his back to the door. He has replaced his wig and mask and as she enters the room he senses her presence and stops playing. He turns slightly to her. She gathers all her courage and approaches him gently removing his mask once more. "Erik, show me your face and have no fears. If ever again I shiver as I look at you it is because I am thinking of the splendor of your genius" He sinks to his knees and bends to kiss the hem of her dress and does not see her tears begin to flow.


End file.
